Fatigued?

I'll keep this brief. The Bulls saw their 20-point lead dwindled down to one against the Celtics on Friday, but found the gear they needed to build it back up and put a safe enough distance between them and their hosts. They defeated a Boston team that's aging and has struggled in the early part of the season. The next night, the Bulls' fatigue was more obvious as they had a low scoring output against the Raptors. Fortunately, Toronto is an inferior team and the Bulls have been amazing on defense at home this season. They pulled that victory out even though they didn't break 80 themselves.

Now that they've had a day to relax from games, the Bulls will get back at it tomorrow afternoon in Memphis against the Grizzlies. Though they have the best record in the NBA right now, it's become pretty clear that playing so often in the early part of the season has drained them a bit. Every NBA team goes through fatigue at one point or another during the season, but most of the time, it's not due to this type of frequency of games played. So's the result of a lockout-shortened season.

Enjoy tomorrow's matinee and an early Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day.