Keeping Woes in the Motor City

Although the city of Detroit has fallen on hard times, that meant little to the Bulls as they entered Auburn Hills tonight to play the Pistons.  They have their own issues to deal with and the path to treating those had to begin with a win.  No matter what those wishing that they tank the season say, they still have to give it their all.

That's what they did in this game.  The Pistons controlled a good portion of the first half and led by two at the break.  The Bulls finally decided they had enough bad luck on this road trip and stepped up their game tenfold. They took a lead in the third quarter and pulled away in the fourth, going in front by as much as 24 before stopping a four-game losing streak to the tune of 99-79.

A couple of players were most responsible for getting the Bulls' record back to .500 (7-7).  Luol Deng performed like the All-Star he is and led all scorers with 27 points.  His 11 field goals were matched by Taj Gibson, who came off the bench to score a career-high 23.  Gibson appeared automatic from wherever he took a shot, 13 coming from the field.  That translates into an 84.6 field-goal percentage.  13 was apparently a popular number for the Bulls tonight.  That scoring total was reached by Joakim Noah, Tony Snell and Kirk Hinrich, who had a game-high seven assists.

Yes, the Bulls had beaten Detroit in 18 of their last 19 meetings, but nothing appears to be a given anymore.  It didn't come when they played the lowly Jazz on Monday, so automatic wins are out the window.  They needed something to remind everyone that despite the loss of Derrick Rose for a second straight year, they're still in position to be one of the better teams in the East.  Although it took them until the second half to pounce on that message, no one ever awarded points for timeliness in winning a game.

Gar Forman blatantly said in an interview the Bulls are not tanking this season, although circumstances might suggest they should.  No one should have expected them to lay down to the Pistons especially.  That is not a good team, so the Bulls will make them earn the win, which didn't happen tonight.  Even if you throw out all the reasons I laid out earlier for not tanking any given season, it's just not in this team's nature to lose on purpose.  Tom Thibodeau especially would never allow his team to do that.  Whether you like it or not, the Bulls are going to the playoffs barring another major setback.  It's not going to change, plain and simple.

The non-tanking Bulls will end their circus trip Saturday against the Cleveland Cavaliers.  It will be a chance for them to show a team on the cusp of competing that while a pair of top draft picks is nice, it takes more than that to win in the NBA.  The Bulls have experience with that.  Too bad they won't be able to say that with this group much longer.

Until next time, Happy Thanksgiving everybody!