The Bulls' wire-to-wire win over the Knicks yesterday, which featured only three team turnovers, should have been a warning shot for what would transpire against the Brooklyn Nets tonight. Instead, we figured the club would be just fine having had over 24 hours to recover. We were rudely awakened when the Nets never trailed and won 96-80.
From the opening tip, it was clear the Bulls were hung over from the high yesterday's win brought as it only took a few minutes for them to surpass three turnovers. The Nets had many a double-digit lead, which the Bulls countered with runs of their own. However, the game was never even tied and the Nets slowly, but surely put the contest out of reach. Their leads were too big for the Bulls to catch up to, even when momentum shifted in the other direction. This tends to happen when your opponent scores 30 points off 28 turnovers and steals the ball 16 times.
Four of the five Nets starters scored in double figures, led by Deron Williams' 20. It was a reminder that no matter how many head coaches he runs out of a job, the Illinois product is still one of the best point guards in the league. Joe Johnson scored 19 and shared Paul Pierce's total of three three-pointers. Pierce tied his 14 points with Peoria native Shaun Livingston, who recorded five steals, so Jason Kidd's starters hurt the Bulls in a lot of different areas. Kevin Garnett was injured, but not needed to end a three-game losing streak against their opponents going back to last year's Game 7. All of this was still nearly overshadowed by Jason Collins playing his first home game with his new team.
D.J. Augustin scored 16 off the bench and made all seven free-throw attempts to lead the Bulls. Jimmy Butler, whom I felt hustled the most tonight, added 13. His hustle could have been all him, or a way of picking up Joakim Noah (10 points), who appeared somewhat limited in his abilities thanks to the ankle injury he sustained in yesterday's game. Taj Gibson totaled 12 and Carlos Boozer continued to fatten his numbers with a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds.
As well as the Bulls have played lately, they should know not to take such a run for granted. I don't think they are, but when you're trying to prove to the rest of the league that you're still up there with the better teams in your conference, you need to be ready to play. All these turnovers they sustained suggest they had trouble sustaining that two days in a row after everything that could go right did in the last game. Bad games are going to happen, but if you're going to lose, do it because you're out of gas from the 82-game grind that is the regular season. An inability to take care of the ball shows lazy play.
Whether they suddenly felt they were playing a real-life version of NBA Jam won't ever be known. Regardless, the offense resembled nothing like the well-oiled machine that beat New York. They looked out of sync and like they were going through the motions. Even a defensive-minded coach like Tom Thibodeau can recognize that basketball is not a one-way sport. Otherwise, he'd be joining Lovie Smith with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Bulls will try again Wednesday in Auburn Hills, Michigan when they play the Detroit Pistons. That matchup is no longer so much about playoff positioning as it is about keeping the Pistons out of the playoffs. It's nothing personal. The team is just trying hard to win every team they face on a given night. That's what personifies the Bulls, even if they don't always seem to show it.
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