Most of the game followed a narrative we've become all too familiar with. The Bulls broke open a close contest to lead by as much as 16. The Clippers, perhaps fueled by a questionable flagrant 2 call that ended Blake Griffin's night in the third quarter, scored 12 straight points on threes early in the fourth to tie it up. Fortunately, the Bulls found just enough offensive firepower at the right time and completed the win after Chris Paul missed a game-tying three in the final seconds.
Pau Gasol, in his latest showing that he's still a decent player, led all scorers with 24 points, including nine in his first career game with three treys. Jimmy Butler shot poorly (4-of-14 from the field), but made six of eight free throws to score 14. Taj Gibson took Nikola Mirotic's place in the starting lineup and had 12. Aaron Brooks returned to action after missing three straight games and finished with 10.
The curious case of Derrick Rose persisted in the first half when he didn't score at all. For the second half, he ditched the surgical mask that has defined his look this season and looked like a new player. It was only an 11-point effort (nine in the fourth) and many decisions were questionable as they have for much of the season, but he looked more like the fearless player that made him so beloved in the city and around the league. Whether it was because of no mask or Fred Hoiberg's coaxing, it was refreshing to see him make a meaningful impact with the game on the line.
Joakim Noah still can't score to save his life, making just one field goal in this game. Still, he came off the bench and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, six on the offensive end. We're not expecting much from him on offense, but getting into double figures more often would go a long way for this team. While that might be asking too much of someone who will be 31 in February, we're just trying to avoid the feeling that this might be as good as he'll be for the rest of his career.
The Bulls needed a win in the worst way and while they got it, they still didn't go for the kill when they needed to. If they felt they could just waltz their way through the rest of this contest after Griffin's ejection, it was one more rude awakening than they should have had all week. Nineteen points in the fourth quarter will cause you to lose most of the time. The Bulls got lucky that the Clippers seemed no more interested in knocking shots down than them.
As frustrating as not stomping on their opponents is, missing shots of all distances and values might be a worse basketball crime. The most notable instance in this game was Butler driving on the Bulls' final possession, getting a clean look at the basket and still failing to close out. It forced everyone to sweat out another couple of minutes and wonder if overtime was coming. Considering recent trends it wouldn't have been surprising to see such an outcome be a bad one.
The Bulls will get a night off before returning to action Saturday against the New Orleans Pelicans. Prepare for one of those letdown games against bad teams following a win over a good one. It's sad how even me, one of the most optimistic Bulls fans around, has resorted to expecting them. But you can't mask reality for very long and right now, it's not pretty for the Bulls.
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