No Derrick Rose. No Pau Gasol. No problem for the Chicago Bulls.
The Bulls produced their most complete performance of the season in a 105-89 road victory against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Staple Center. Without arguably their two best players, the Chicago Bull’s played with the lead for much of the game and absorbed several comeback punches from the Clippers before eventually pulling away at the very end of the game.
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The Chicago Bulls began their annual “circus” west coast road trip on the right foot with their victory Monday against an extremely talented Los Angeles squad that many predicted to be among the legitimate contenders to come out of the west this season. Here are the highlights from the game Monday.
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Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson led the Bulls offensively with 22 points and 20 points respectively. Although he only went 6-17 from the field, Butler made an impact on the game by playing strangling defense throughout the contest and aggressively driving towards the basket and drawing fouls. Joakim Noah had perhaps his best performance of the season thus far. He looks a lot more comfortable out there when Pau isn’t playing (that is a story for another day). He finished with a near triple double effort scoring 11 points, grabbing 16 rebounds and dishing out 6 assists. With the front-court weakened because Gasol was out, young rookie Nikola Mirotic stepped in and put in a great effort as well. He notched 12 points and 7 rebounds coming off the bench. Mike Dunleavy was spot on with his shooting, scoring 19 points off of 6-10 from the field.
Nov 17, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler (left) celebrates with guard Mike Dunleavy (34) during the fourth quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center. The Chicago Bulls defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 105-89. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
The Chicago Bulls played their best game collectively as a team. They recorded 28 assists on 39 made field goals. The Bulls also recorded their best collective defensive effort as well, an area that has been disappointingly bad so far this season. They gave up only 89 points on 44% shooting to a Clippers team that is loaded with offensive talent The 89 points that they gave up to the Clippers is 8 points less than their season average. Previously, the Bulls had been giving up 97.1 points per game to opponents which is ranked 11th in the NBA. The Bulls are usually among the top 5 in the league in this statistical category so the current 11th spot ranking is puzzling to say the least.
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Nov 17, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler (21) hits the ball away from Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) during the second quarter at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
So, how were the Bulls able to dismantle the L.A. Clippers but got embarrassed by the injury plagued Pacers at home? How were they able to go into Toronto and get a victory across the border in a highly hyped game but got beat by the rebuilding Celtics five games prior?
The answer to the question is a surprising one. The Bulls have been plagued by something that hasn’t been a problem in a very long time. In some of these games, the effort/interest wasn’t there and that is why they are losing to some of the under .500 teams. The Bulls are getting outworked and out hustled in some of these games; something that the Bulls have prided themselves on being able to avoid over the years.
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Stacey King says it best. In almost every broadcast, he states that playing the Chicago Bull’s is a game that every other team (especially under.500 teams) gets up for because it is almost like their playoff game. These teams can beat the Bulls purely on effort and interest if the Bulls continue to mentally look past these teams and don’t show up in the games. It is ironic, because the tables have turned on the Bulls. The last few years saw the Bulls as the team that outworked their opponent every game and make other teams bleed if they wanted to beat them.
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Nov 17, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Taj Gibson (22) celebrates with Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler (21) after a shot against the Los Angeles Clippers during the second quarter at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
The Bulls are still a hard nosed team capable of putting up Herculean efforts when they want to. The game on Monday against the Clippers is evidence of this fact. So is the game against the Toronto Raptors and the early season games against New York and Cleveland. I realize they lost to the Cavaliers, but the effort and focus was definitely there throughout the game. The helplessness of not knowing the extent of Rose’s ankle injury may have contributed to the late game implosion.
As frustrating as it is to see the Bulls struggle with these sub 500 teams, it really isn’t the end of the world. As long as they can get up and play hard when the game really matters they will be all right in the long term. However, I truly believe for the Bulls to be able to do this they need to develop good habits by playing hard every night no matter the opponent. I’d like to see the Bulls start to blow out some of these lottery teams in the future.
Nov 17, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose (left) and Chicago Bulls forward Pau Gasol (right) celebrate after the game against the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center. The Chicago Bulls defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 105-89. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
There is no doubt in my mind that the question of hustle has been addressed privately within the Bull’s practices or locker room. There are too many prideful, high character players on this team for the Bulls to continue to have embarrassing performances like they did against Indiana and Boston this season. Joakim Noah, Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson (the leaders of this team) will address the issue and establish the precedent on the court for everybody to follow.
Who knows? Maybe the win against Los Angeles was a turning point. The effort sure was there during this game. Here’s hoping that it continues to be there moving forward.