Missing Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler and Luol Deng was bad enough, but we then learned before the game that Joakim Noah would be sidelined with a bruise right thigh. That left a starting lineup that included Mike Dunleavy and Nazr Mohammed, which certainly would have made it tough for me to get excited during the pregame introductions. It was even hard to feel disappointment at the end of a 78-74 loss.
Without their best player, veteran scorer, emotional leader and everyman, the Bulls looked like anything but a competing team. They were inconsistent with their offensive schemes, not converting on second chances, missing rebounds they normally would have grabbed and showing enough urgency. They tried their best with what they had, but the personnel just wasn't there to pull away. The Bucks didn't exactly take control either. They were just as stretched thin by injuries and didn't make anyone awestruck, but somebody had to win.
Few clutch plays were made on the Bulls' end and they mostly seemed to run into quality basketball more than find it themselves. Even then, something ugly was attached. One particular bad sequence saw them come up with a defensive rebound, but only after Milwaukee grabbed three offensive boards on that possession. They somehow forced the Bucks to turn it over as they trailed by three with 13.1 seconds left. Rather than the Bulls going for the tie, we saw Carlos Boozer's jumper blocked and the ball turned over after it was chased out of bounds.
John Henson led the Bucks with 25 points and 14 rebounds. Though it wasn't the dagger, he hit a long floater in the final two minutes that appeared to be well-defended to the point where we couldn't see the rim, but it somehow fell through, stunning the United Center crowd. Brandon Knight also had a double-double of 19 and 10. Ersan Ilyasova came off the bench with 10.
Dunleavy scored 18 of his 24 points in the second quarter. For awhile, it appeared he would be the one to lift the Bulls to an unlikely win. Boozer's latest patented double-double had 21 points and 12 boards. Snell, who has made the most of his opportunities to start recently, continued an impressive run by scoring 13. Taj Gibson wasn't as hot as he's been, but still scored 10 and narrowly missed his own double-double with nine rebounds.
This setback is the latest of many the Bulls have had. Aside from a dominant third quarter in Detroit two weeks back and the blowout win over Miami, very few things have gone right. Even when it seems like an easy opponent is put in front of them, something happens to cripple them further, causing them to look nothing like the championship contender they were when the season began. While there's plenty of time to right the ship, watching Bulls basketball in their current state is about as enjoyable as watching Marquis Teague finding his shot.
The good news is Jimmy Butler is moving even closer to trading in his bow tie for his game jersey (seriously, did you see how he was dressed tonight?). Once he (or Deng or Noah) return, the Bulls will get back to some resemblance of a decent team. To play this poorly in a year when the Eastern Conference is not very good should not be acceptable. Tom Thibodeau knows this and will let his players know it until he's blue in the face.
There's not much time to dwell on this. Tomorrow night, the Bulls will be in New York to take on the lowly Knicks, who are in even worse shape at the moment. From injuries to accusations that they're definitely tanking the season, there's not much to be excited about there and this matchup will draw quite a few yawns. Still, it would be worth watching Spike Lee shaking his head even further.
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