The Hornets, in search of their first win, got off to a fast start and never let up. They took advantage of a Bulls defense that just never took away open lanes or open shots. Offensively, the Bulls drove in a vain attempt to best Charlotte's bigs and attempted many difficult shots. By the time it was over, the Hornets had scored at least 30 in ever quarter and the Bulls were stranded far out in the dust.
Four Hornets starters and three bench players scored in double figures. Leading the bunch was reserve guard Jeremy Lamb, fresh off signing a three-year extension, with 20 points on 90 percent shooting. Nicolas Batum, a free agent at season's end, was just behind with 18. Even if he only scored four points as a starter, Marvin Williams made up for with a game-high 10 rebounds.
Jimmy Butler led all scorers with 26 points, including four 3-pointers, but his stellar play was mostly white noise by the second half. Doug McDermott (career-high 17 points) and Aaron Brooks (14) epitomized Hoiball by combining for nine treys off the bench. Pau Gasol's 13 were offset by horrible defense, although every Bulls big had trouble with that. The biggest Bulls impression was left by Bobby Portis, who made his NBA debut with 10 points in the fourth quarter.
Rose's four points were somewhat made up for by a team-high five assists, but he was also part of a group of ineffective veterans. Joakim Noah's five rebounds were the lone bright spot in a line mostly made up of zeros. Although Taj Gibson made all three field-goal attempts, he never gelled with anybody down low. Whether that's an indictment on the bigs' age, Fred Hoiberg's strategy, or their struggling to adapt to that, at least there's 77 games left to correct that.
Even going back to last season, defensive issues on a team with improved offense has been a recurring theme. Now, it's gotten to where a team who may or may not make the playoffs is cutting through the Bulls like Swiss cheese. We probably won't see this regularly, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating to watch. And trouble with the Pistons, plus nearly blowing one against the Magic will only balloon these problems until the next easy victory, though that just might be putting a bandage over a wound for a bit.
It doesn't get any easier Thursday with a nationally-televised game with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Anything like the outing we just saw and the results will be exactly the same, if not worse. Kevin Durant is back with a vengeance and Russell Westbrook will only make life easier for him. At least the Bulls usually bring their A game against the best teams, so maybe, this won't be as bad as some of us are making it out to be.
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