A Filling Black Friday

It appeared the Bulls were going to have to settle for their Black Friday matinee against the Boston Celtics to be one of 82 games.  They came out flat, but slowly realized they were the better team.  So they'll take this 109-102 win, although it was anything but easy.

The Celtics took a 35-24 lead at the end of the first quarter, but had lost both previous games in which they held a double-digit advantage during that time.  The Bulls emphasized that by cutting their deficit to six at halftime and then taking an early lead in the third.  After Derrick Rose temporarily took a seat, Boston went on a 13-2 run to reclaim what had been theirs.  What followed was the two teams trading leads until the Bulls made some clutch defensive plays and the Celtics missed key free throws to go down at home.

Six Bulls, including four of their starters, scored in double figures.  Leading that group was NBA minutes leader Jimmy Butler with 22 points.  Rose barely trailed him with 21 in 27 minutes.  Aside from sitting for a period following which he appeared to jam his finger (the 13-2 run in the aforementioned paragraph), he got through this game just fine.  Pau Gasol found 15s in both the scoring and rebounding columns.

Joakim Noah looked like the player of old by scoring 15 points, grabbing 14 rebounds, dishing out a team-high six assists and getting six blocks.  In the final minute, he made a key block and fired a perimeter jumper that appeared short, but then went in.  For all the talk about Rose needing to recover from his injuries, Noah has needed an equal boost coming off knee surgery.  As November gets close to becoming December, this is the right time for him to get going.

Against an inferior opponent like Boston, the Bulls probably should not have had such difficulties, especially on defense.  Then, you remember how many key players are still recovering from their various injuries and Taj Gibson didn't suit up.  The good news for these Bulls compared to last year's is they have the offense to get themselves out of these situations.  Plus, in close games, they can still make key defensive stops, which will hopefully happen more frequently and characteristically as the season continues.

The circus trip ends Sunday afternoon against the Brooklyn Nets.  At 3-3, a win would allow the Bulls to finish this annual brutal stretch above .500, which should count as a success.  With luck, Gibson will able to return to the lineup.  And New York's famous borough won't be feeling so mighty when this game is over.

Bulls' Circus ER

The Bulls' circus trip exists to allow families to laugh and be amazed by performers.  A pleasant time is guaranteed by all who enter the United Center for this occasion.  This is a yearly custom during the last two weeks of November.

Unfortunately for the Bulls, this year's trip has been anything but funny or amazing.  A 2-3 record through seven games is one thing, but it's quite another to see players dropping like flies due to injuries.  For over a week, Derrick Rose, Pau Gasol, Kirk Hinrich, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson have all missed games.  The result is the Bulls having that much less of a chance to win before the starting lineups are announced.

A very interesting coincidence is that on a given night, multiple players at the same or similar positions have been unable to go.  We've seen Rose and Hinrich sit out at the same time, forcing Aaron Brooks to carry more than the load he was asked of when he signed here.  In Tuesday's loss to the Denver Nuggets, Gibson and Noah were unavailable, which meant seldom-used rookie Cameron Bairstow had to start down low.  This is a deep team, but stretch it too much and you can see why only the Spurs can really get away with sitting their key players here and there during the regular season.

For a coach that has been told to take it easy on his players so they're not fatigued and injured for the playoffs, Tom Thibodeau has only shown slight movement in that direction.  Whether the injuries has something to do with his method is not clear, but you have to worry about some of the players' health.  Jimmy Butler's breakout offensive season has been both a blessing and a curse for him.  He's helping the Bulls, but Thibodeau is riding him as much as Luol Deng before him, so that could be trouble later on.

By a similar token, Rose's inability to finish games or stay healthy might not be doing the Bulls any favors now or later.  There's talk he might not be helpful in the playoffs if this keeps up.  All kinds of solutions have been proposed, including the Tribune's David Haugh suggesting that Rose sit until Christmas.  I personally think that's a little extreme, but I've heard a lot worse from fans on sports talk radio and in social media.

The Bulls will celebrate Thanksgiving in Boston before playing a Friday matinee against the Celtics.  They should be thankful to be in first place and while they say grace, they should pray for a healthier rest of the season.  As for the rest of us, Happy Turkey Day to all!

Not Enough Jazz Still Feels Like Too Much

It's too bad Taj Gibson had to fly back to Chicago to take a real look at his sprained ankle.  He missed a chance to recreate the above photo.  Fortunately, the Bulls didn't need him to beat the Utah Jazz.  However, they would have preferred a much more comfortable final than 97-95.

With Derrick Rose and Pau Gasol returning from their respective injuries, the Bulls felt healthier and a little more talented.  That was evidenced by a 15-point halftime lead.  They pulled in front of Utah by as much as 21 and everything seemed to be just fine.

Suddenly, Utah caught a second wind and took the lead early in the fourth.  From there, it was back and forth between the teams with the Jazz leading by four with 3:30 remaining.  Eventually, the Bulls retook the lead by one thanks to a fast break which culminated in Mike Dunleavy's putback layup for his only points of the game.  After Gasol split a pair of free throws with 3.2 seconds left, Gordon Hayward tried to duplicate his game-winning three against Cleveland earlier this month, but was unsuccessful.

Jimmy Butler, quickly making a case for the Most Improved Player Award, led all scorers with 25 points, shooting 8-of-16 from the field and 8-of-9 behind the free-throw line.  Gasol acted like no time off had been wasted, barely trailing the Bulls' swingman with 23.  Finishing one rebound shy of a double-double certainly helped both his and the team's causes.  There's just no way you can underestimate his importance during the first month of the season.

Rose, seeing game action for the first time in 11 days, did his best to shake off the rust with 18 points and a team-high five assists in 24 minutes.  There was talk after the game that fatigue in the second half slowed his later production, but it's probably not something to get too worked up over.  He got some help off the bench from Aaron Brooks and Nikola Mirotic, who each scored 10.  That's all the Bulls could have asked from their third-string point guard and an increasingly improving rookie.

Granted, the Bulls are still not completely healthy despite getting two of their three best players back for this game.  However, you should still beat the beatable teams and they almost blew this one.  Then again, they still stopped a two-game losing streak and it's best to stop any bleeding before it gets too far out of control.  Just ask the 76ers, Hornets and Thunder (still can't believe I'm putting that team in this category).

The Bulls will stay in the Mountain Time Zone as they play the Denver Nuggets Tuesday.  That's another Northwest Division team so far behind Portland, the Rockies have practically doubled in size from their perspective.  It's the Bulls' job to keep it that way, hopefully with Kirk Hinrich returning.

Shorthanded, but Breakouts Galore

Picture this.  You're a Bulls fan in Los Angeles about to go to Staples Center to watch your team begin their circus trip against the Clippers.  You've just learned Derrick Rose and Pau Gasol will sit out to nurse their injuries.  There's less reason to be optimistic, right?

A few hours later, you and your fellow brethren have taken over the building, cheering on a 105-89 victory.  You leave with an understanding you might be seeing an emerging superstar in Jimmy Butler.  You realize this could have been the game Nikola Mirotic needed to start a journey to the All-Rookie team.  That's a night well spent.

After the teams played equally in the first quarter, former Bull Jamal Crawford led the Clippers on a nice run during the second to get the home crowd into the game.  It helped that the Bulls went cold from the field, resulting in a 14-point lead with less than 3 1/2 minutes to play in the half.  At this point, Bulls fans had to hope this was just a bad stretch of basketball and the tide would turn soon.

Fortunately, that became the case as the Bulls cut the deficit to two at halftime.  Then, they truly took over by outscoring the Clippers 31-14 in the third.  They kept it going in the fourth and even fought off a late Clippers rally in which the lead was cut to eight.  Before it was over, the home fans were headed for the exits and the visiting fans made their presence known.

All five starters scored in double digits, led by Butler's 22.  The fourth-year man from Marquette led  everybody with eight assists and made life miserable for Chris Paul (12 points) on defense.  He drove whenever he wanted and wanted to be wherever the ball was at any given moment.  If you didn't think he was a go-to option on offense before, you better start thinking so because he's not going away.

Taj Gibson, starting in place of Gasol, proved he's regular starting material again by scoring 20.  Mike Dunleavy and Kirk Hinrich had 19 and 14 respectively while burying four three-pointers each.  Joakim Noah, knowing Gasol couldn't earn a double-double, earned one of his own with 11 and 16.  He nearly made it a triple-double, but capped his assist total at six.

Mirotic led the shorthanded bench by totaling 12, three of which came from downtown.  There was a lot of talk on Twitter during his 18 minutes of play that this was the game in which we could see what he truly is.  His defense leaves something to be desired, so we'll have to wait and see on that.  For now, we'll take the message that he shouldn't be messed with as we get deeper into the season.

The Clippers are a tough task these days, so starting the circus trip against them should have meant dread for a team rattled by injuries.  Instead, the Bulls showed how even without their two most talented scorers, they're deep enough to handle any team anytime.  Butler has the top scoring average so far at 21.3, so his presence is proving just as valuable.  If they find good looks for each other, limit turnovers (just eight in LA) and keep up their trademark defense, they'll continue to add to that 6-0 road record, which ties the 1996-97 Bulls for the best start away from home.

The Bulls will play their second game on this long trip Thursday in a nationally televised tilt with the Sacramento Kings.  At least one of Rose and Gasol is expected back by then, which should tilt the odds further towards the Bulls favor.  Tune in to hopefully see a win and a team-record 7-0 beginning outside of Chicago.

Look at Rose's Walk, Not Talk

"I'm thinking about long term. I'm thinking about after I'm done with basketball. Having graduations to go to, having meetings to go to, I don't want to be in my meetings all sore or be at my son's graduation all sore just because of something I did in the past. [I'm] just learning and being smart."

Those words were all some people needed to hear in order to go off on Derrick Rose once again.  He's soft, they said.  He's only cares about himself, they said.  He needs to be traded and so forth.

Such figures as Tom Thibodeau and Mike Dunleavy have since come to the star's defense, saying the comments were taken out of context and the rest of the team is confident in his commitment to everyone.  Most of us only know Rose the player and (flawed) PR man.  These are the ones who know Rose the person and can see what makes him who he is every day.  That should be enough to calm everybody, right?

Not in a town like Chicago, unfortunately.  While there's no question about the city having great fans, there's also little doubt about the ill-informed meatheads who take everything at face value.  They can also turn very nasty, as Bears coach Marc Trestman's daughters learned the hard way last weekend.  It often makes me ashamed to live among people who are so passionate about their teams, yet so misguided in the way they think things.

I'm not going to say Rose was right in what he had to say, especially given the timing of all the time he's missed recently.  However, I can see him wanting to preserve his body for the playoffs and quality opponents.  And heck, if he wants to avoid constant pain when his playing days are done, I'm fine with him thinking that.  But if you're a professional athlete, it's best not to say things like he said, lest you reawaken the beasts who refuse to stay asleep.

Despite that, don't let yourself think that a player who is poor at damage control with PR blunders isn't going to try and win.  From what we've seen in the games he's played in, he has at least approached the level of play that won him the MVP award in 2011.  He's distributing the ball well, driving to the hoop and contrary to some belief, isn't afraid to act aggressive when needed.

Don't act like Rose has to be a model citizen either.  Michael Jordan will always be my favorite athlete, but he has a vicious reputation when others rub him the wrong way.  He's imperfect like everyone else, so Rose certainly has a little bit of leeway in that area.  Not every player is going to act like David Robinson, who always put his team first and is an all-around nice guy.

All that matters is what Rose does on the court and in the playoffs.  It's true he hasn't had a lot of those chances lately, but if he continues to do what he's doing, all of what's transpired these past couple of days will be completely forgotten about.  If he doesn't play the way he can when it really counts, then by all means pile on top of him.  For now though, put your torches and pitchforks away and enjoy whatever greatness we see.

From now until the middle of April, the regular season is going to be filled with these kinds of stories.  If you're not used to it by now, you need an education on how sports seasons work.  Hopefully, I'm just preaching to the choir.  In that case, we all know how tumultuous this might be.

Everyone's Healthy, Everyone Wins

Former Bull D.J. Augustin returned to Chicago Monday on his 27th birthday.  His team is now the Detroit Pistons, who were just coming off a one-point defeat to Utah the day before.  Much to his chagrin, the Bulls played their first game this season with all five members of their projected starting lineup.  Even worse, the final was 102-91 in the Bulls' favor and the United Center crowd was cheering for free Big Macs.

The first half was one Tom Thibodeau would be pleased with afterward, which shouldn't be a surprise considering a 13-point halftime lead.  Then, the Pistons turned up the heat in the third quarter, outscoring the Bulls 26-18 to cut the lead to five.  The fourth would provide a bit more tension as Detroit got to within two.  But led by the returned Derrick Rose, the Bulls would deny the visitors their first lead of the game and pull away at the right time.

Rose led all scorers with 24 points and had a team-high seven assists after being listed as questionable earlier in the day.  It was reported he would test his sprained ankles out in the pregame warmups and it paid off.  While he also led the Bulls with three turnovers, the club totaled just 10 of them.  For at least one night, his detractors were kept at bay.

Jimmy Butler, who has not had much starting experience with Rose, benefited from the former MVP's presence by scoring 19.  Of his six field goals, four of them were shot from beyond the three-point line.  One of those threes gave the Bulls a seven-point lead with 1:56 to play.  Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come for this duo.

Pau Gasol contributed a double-double of 17 points and 15 rebounds in what has quickly become a norm for him.  Joining him in the DD Club was Joakim Noah with 13 points and 14 boards.  He came rather close to a triple-double with six dimes.  This might have been just what the premier center needed to get in the right gear while coming off of knee surgery.

Thibodeau has recently expressed concerns about his team routinely getting outrebounded, which had happened in the last six games entering Monday.  For a group that stresses defense as its strongest point, it's practically a disaster to show any chink in that armor.  The Bulls corrected that against the Pistons to win the battle 49-46.  It's certainly not a huge improvement, but it's a step in the right direction which can hopefully last a little longer with a completely healthy lineup.

What Augustin gained besides 16 birthday points off the bench was a former insider's perspective on how it feels to play the Bulls.  There's little doubt he has much of what he learned in Chicago still in his mind, but the additions of Gasol and a healthy Rose forced him to see something he didn't have last season.  A 2013-14 Bulls team that struggled to score now has an easier time doing so.  Perhaps if that hadn't been the case, they wouldn't have had to count on Augustin so much, resulting in fewer chances and thus, no resurrected NBA career for the point guard.

It always feels good to be healthy and these Bulls probably know that better than most other teams.  If the past few seasons have taught them anything, it's that there's a huge difference between who you have on paper and who you have that's actually available.  A 6-2 record is nice, but the best way to maintain that is for all major players to see as much time as possible while conserving energy for the playoffs.  Although a .750 winning percentage may not be maintainable for the 82-game grind, seeing all that talent on the floor will make these Bulls fun to watch.

After two days off, the Bulls travel north of the border to play the Toronto Raptors, who have gotten off to a surprising 6-1 start.  It's the first time in their 20 seasons they have been alone atop the Eastern Conference.  Perhaps they'll take the third seed as they did last year this coming April.  But the Bulls are expected to go further this year, making this game a perfect chance to let Canada know that.

The Bucks Stop Here

A true bipartisan crowd was present Wednesday at the BMO Harris Bradley Center to see the hometown Milwaukee Bucks take on the Bulls.  The quality improved during the starting lineup when Derrick Rose was introduced after missing two games.  What the fans got was far from perfect basketball, but there were plenty of bang-bang plays on both sides.  In the end, the team from 85 miles south had a 95-86 victory.

The Bulls had trouble finding a defensive rhythm in the first half, resulting in a lot of the close baskets they surrendered in Tuesday's win against Orlando.  The offense did its best to keep pace, although turnovers (four each from Rose and Jimmy Butler) would keep the score within striking distance throughout.  Finally, the defense clamped down and the offense took advantage of several empty Bucks possessions.  It showed what happens when a veteran team that knows how to win matches up against a very young roster still figuring things out.

It was another big night for the top two power forwards.  Taj Gibson, starting again for the ill Joakim Noah, led all scorers with 23 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and just played with pure heart all night.  Pau Gasol achieved another double-double of 22 points and 14 rebounds.  This string of double digits in two categories is repeating what Carlos Boozer did without the defensive issues.

Despite the aforementioned turnover numbers from Butler and Rose, they had respective points totals of 14 and 13 while dishing out seven assists apiece.  Rose was clearly still favoring his two sprained ankles, but did well to facilitate the offense and even drove to the hoop fearlessly a few times.  Mike Dunleavy rounded out the starting five scoring with 12, two of which came on a breakaway layup he probably could have dunked if he wanted to.

What we know about this Bulls team's capabilities cannot be ascertained properly when four of their five opponents so far have been lesser teams.  But we can at least say they know how to close these particular clubs out.  Whether they're cracking down on defense, playing smart on offense or drawing rookie mistakes (see Andrew Wiggins), this team is holding up its end of the bargain regarding preseason predictions.

As for Rose, we saw him suit up at a time when the doubters were starting to make noise about his fragile body again.  When he went out in the first quarter, there was speculation that his body language on the bench indicated he was already finished.  Instead, he played 31 minutes and had the Bulls fans in attendance chanting "MVP" by the time he got to the free-throw line late.  The more we see of him, the more we'll be put at ease.

The young season will continue Friday when the Bulls travel east to play the Philadelphia 76ers.  I shouldn't say this is already a victory, but they're playing a team that's not even trying right now.  Time to put them in their place as the lowly club they're trying to be.  In the meantime, the Philly fans can see a reminder of what winning basketball is.

Bulls Find Own Magic

Derrick Rose (ankles) and Joakim Noah (flu) missing any game typically means not much excitement is going to happen.  Add a winless opponent in the Orlando Magic and you're going to get some empty seats at the United Center.  But those who showed up were rewarded with a hard-fought 98-90 victory.

This game really was a tale of four quarters.  First, we saw the Magic move the ball freely while the Bulls looked flat.  We secondly saw a lot of successfully penetrating to the basket on both ends followed by poor offense by the sides in the third.  For the fourth and final frame, the Bulls slowly, but surely pulled ahead to put the game out of reach with clutch offense and defense.

In his second game of the season, Jimmy Butler led the Bulls with 21 points and went 7-of-11 from the free throw line despite a bandaged hand.  With no Rose or Noah, the offense was somewhat forced to revolve around him and he answered the call.  At a time when he's made his allegiance to Chicago clear despite no new contract signed, he's trying to convince the Bulls he'll be worth overpaying for this summer.

Pau Gasol and Taj Gibson each scored 16 in equally impressive fashions.  Gasol's total was part of a double-double, which included 13 rebounds.  Although he only had a couple of offensive putbacks, it certainly appears he's more comfortable with this task than Carlos Boozer ever was.  Gibson got in early trouble and ended up with five fouls, but he turned fearless at the right time and his play showed it.

Aaron Brooks provided the latest evidence that he'll be next in the line of successful backup point guards on this team, scoring 13 and leading all players with eight assists and three blocks.  Both three-pointers he shot went in as well.  Doug McDermott showed off his high basketball IQ by driving to the basket and even throwing down an emphatic dunk.  He finished with 12 to indicate he continues to adjust to the NBA just fine.

Although the Bulls were without their two best players, that shouldn't be an excuse for allowing so many close baskets.  Fortunately for them, the Magic are an inferior team who shot themselves in the foot plenty of times.  Plus, they had just enough in the tank on both ends to finish Orlando off.  Talent almost always wins out in the NBA and the team that had more of it got the victory.

The Bulls will travel by bus tomorrow to take on the Milwaukee Bucks at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.  This will be Jabari Parker's first matchup against his hometown team and it's very likely the Bulls contingent will be well represented in the seats.  The Bucks have a long way to go, although Parker is a good start.  Hopefully, Rose will be healthy enough to go one-on-one with him a few times.

Little bit of trivia to close:  the Bulls played the Magic at home on the night of the midterm elections.  I watched these same two teams at the United Center two years ago on the night Obama was reelected.  This was also the fourth game of the season, and I saw this matchup as the fourth game of the '97-98 season.  How do these things happen?