Taj and Joakim…The New Blues Brothers? Bulls Win 92-86

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

One thing I can say about the Chicago Bulls is…they don’t do things the easy way. Despite having an anemic 15 point 4th quarter scoring output, despite Joakim Noah doing his best tap dance job for the last 6:53 of the game with five fouls, the Bulls escape with a 92-86 win. The Bulls were basically playing the Western Conference version of themselves if you look at the injuries. The Los Angeles Lakers was missing Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Jordan Farmar, Nick Young, Jodie Meeks, Andy, Goober and Aunt B. They were basically sending a team kept together with gum and duct tape. Steve Nash who just got back from injury was sidelined again with irritation in his left leg. Carlos Boozer sat out again with a left calf strain. The Bulls are back to .500…again and are 19-20 since Derrick Rose went down with a knee injury.

The Bulls started the game out strong with a 10-0 run. They started game getting the ball inside to Taj Gibson to set the tone. While that was going on, the Bulls defense did what it always does, stop people from scoring. The Lakers missed their first six shots including a 27 foot air-ball by Wesley Johnson. The Bulls led by as much as 15 in the second quarter and as much as 19 in the third quarter. The Bulls front-line destroyed the starting front-line of the Lakers. Joakim Noah, who blamed himself in the loss to the Golden State Warriors for not being aggressive enough, cleared up that problem with an 20 point, 13 rebound performance. Taj Gibson was his partner in crime if you are a Lakers fan with 18 point six rebound performance. Pippen Peoples, this could be the start of something big. These two are developing a serious chemistry on the court. The symmetry and trust between these two especially on the defensive end will be the difference whether the Bulls make the playoffs or not. Breaking News! Kirk Hinrich showed up and scored some points. I know I’m being sarcastic right now but you tell me the last time Kirk was one of the leading scorers for the Bulls in a game? I’ll wait. DJ Augustin finished with 15 points. He didn’t shoot that well, but knocked down four critical free throws to seal the deal. Since Jimmy Butler is my favorite player on the Bulls I have one thing to say that will help him out. Jimmy stop shooting three-point shots. You are not good at it at this point of your career. Become a slasher or cut to the basket more because Noah will find you. Plus with all that running around on defense, you do not have the legs to shoot from distance. Stop it.

Magic Johnson has offered his help in trying to rebuild the Lakers. As a lifelong L.A. Dodgers fan I hope that Jim Buss gets off his high horse and accepts the man’s help. Magic knows winning and he brought the Dodgers from a laughingstock to division winners in ONE year. This just in to Pippen Aint Easy, Magic Johnson knows what he is doing. The NBA does not need the Lakers to stink like they do. The Bulls starters outscored the Lakers 73-24 yesterday. Jack Nicholson has to be embarrassed watching this wretched bunch. How bad were they? Let’s go over that shall we? Let’s start with the front-line. Wesley Johnson had six points and four rebounds and had to ask someone to close the window after that air ball I mentioned before. Robert Sacre had two points on 1-6 shooting. I know Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Shaquille O’Neal are rolling over in their graves watching this cat play center. Ryan Kelly scored the same amount of points as me, you and my three sons in the game yesterday…none. Chris Kaman came off the bench to score 27 points and grab ten rebounds. I can’t figure out how the Bulls allow players that are barely in team’s rotation come in and play so well. Well the Bulls need to figure it out.

The Bulls play the Atlanta Hawks next. This is a big game Pippen Peoples. If the Bulls win they are in a three-way tie in the loss column with the  Washington Wizards and the Hawks. The Bulls finish the road trip above .500 with a 3-3 record. If you are a Bulls fan. Again I have much respect for you because these guys sometimes are something to watch.