Too Sunny for Suns

Aaron Brooks looks good in the above photo, but with 12 points against the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, he reaggravated a left hamstring injury he suffered earlier in the game and had to leave.  At that point, there were doubts the Bulls could finish what they had started after blowing a 17-point lead.  Luckily, the Suns held the lead for all of 57 seconds and no later than with 4:35 left in the fourth quarter.  Though a frustrating contest, the Bulls won 103-97.

With Derrick Rose resting his sprained ankle, Jimmy Butler had to carry the Bulls on his own.  He scored 14 of the Bulls' 31 fourth-quarter points and finished with a game-high 32 points, the eighth 30-point outing of his career and first this season.  Phoenix had several second chances when they made the game close, but their inability to finish meant Butler made it hurt more than any other Bull.  Already, there's legitimate speculation he's reaching an even higher level of greatness.

Pau Gasol scored eight first-quarter points and ended with 17, rediscovering his game at the right time.  Kirk Hinrich, starting for Rose, shot 6-of-7 from the field to score 14, giving us the first of what will hopefully be a handful of decent outings from him this year.  Nikola Mirotic continued to struggle with his shooting (4-of-12 from the field), but still scored 10.  Although Joakim Noah didn't score off the bench, he had a game-high 11 rebounds.

As much as anyone would like to say this game was easy, it wasn't.  Maybe the Bulls survived playing at the Suns' pace, but 19 careless turnovers and 23 fast break points given up show how sloppy they were.  There were moments when they were caught daydreaming and the Suns pounced on those opportunities like a lion catching its prey.  Without Butler's hot play late and the Suns missing on additional chances to make the Bulls pay, we'd be talking about a different result.

Amazingly, for as lackadaisical as the Bulls have looked during this first month, their only regulation loss thus far was that blowout at Charlotte.  With this win, they moved to 8-3 and a tie with Cleveland for first in the East.  Many are likely waiting for them to drop off so either the Cavaliers or Atlanta can claim their rightful place there.  This month hasn't always been pretty and the injuries are starting to pile up at point guard, but you can't argue with the early results of a team still adjusting to Hoiball.

A tall order awaits Friday as the Bulls continue their circus trip against the defending champion Golden State Warriors.  The Bulls were one of only two teams to top Curry's crew at Oracle Arena during the regular season last year.  But the Warriors are 12-0 and could be 13-0 after Thursday's meeting with the Clippers.  That back-to-back might be the only thing working in the Bulls' favor, so they might have a chance if they exploit fatigue and jet lag, though Los Angeles and Oakland aren't that far apart.