Back On Track, Though Maybe Not Completely Filling

The Bulls played the second of a back-to-back tonight. This one featured a team miles away from Miami: the Washington Wizards. Some will say it should have been a blowout, but it wasn't as the Bulls really only dominated for two quarters. It was even for the second quarter while the fourth belonged to the Wizards. Still, it was enough to pull out a 98-88 victory.

Fresh off his self-proclaimed responsibility for the Miami loss, Derrick Rose scored a season-high 35 points. His game-high eight assists weren't a bad addition either. Carlos Boozer was quiet for most of the game, but he came alive in the fourth quarter to finish with 18 points. Kyle Korver, starting in place of Luol Deng tonight, knocked down five of his 12 three-point attempts for 17 points. Joakim Noah continued his recent double-double trend with a 14-13 night. He could have had a triple-double, definitely unorthodox for him, but was three assists short.

I definitely agree that this should have been a less interesting game towards the end. The Wizards got the deficit to as close as eight. However, the Bulls may not have had their minds at 100 percent. They just played a hard-fought game they lost to the Heat the previous afternoon. Still, they seemed a bit content at times playing with the lead (they didn't trail the entire night) and it could be seen with some lazy passes with the ball. Consequently, the Wizards finished with three fewer turnovers. Still, I'll write this off as a game that could have gone better, but should be considered good in the sense that it ended with the victory.

On Wednesday, the night that the Disney Princesses and little girls dressed as them begin their invasion of the United Center, the Bulls will be in Philadelphia to take on the surprising 76ers. Time for them to put the jumpstarters in their place and let them know that they still have a ways to go to catch up with them.