Derrick Rose sits with his recurring toe injury, and the Bulls get dominated in Memphis. With an easy upcoming schedule and CJ Watson's return, is it time for management to force Rose to rest?
The Bulls handled the Raptors in a 'was there ever any doubt' fashion at the United Center on Saturday night 77-64. Contrary to your initial assumptions, they didn't play under NCAA clock rules.
The Bulls beat the Cs in Boston on Friday night 88-79, but unlike the early season overtime loss of the 2010-11, an early season loss in Boston would've clearly been a loss to a worse team. Friday, the Bulls -- for the first time in a very long time -- expectedly beat an NBA team in Boston.
The Pistons stayed within single digits of a Bulls team obviously being paced in the first game of three in three nights. Until the fourth quarter where Detroit managed the feat of logging more than 333% more turnovers than field goals, getting outscored 24-9 en route to the Bulls moving up to 8-2 with the 24-point win at the United Center.
The Bulls exploded with huge runs in Orlando on Friday to handle the Magic 97-83, but responded by receiving an old fashioned beatdown in Atlanta on Saturday to the Hawks 109-94. In both games, the scores were a lot closer than they should've been.
Derrick Rose played all but the final 1:13 of the second half. Luol Deng played the entire third quarter, as well as the first 5:28 of the fourth and another 4:11 after resting 1:28 for 21:39 of playing time in the second half of a game where the Bulls were up by as much as 20 and were never up by less than 11.
Richard Hamilton and C.J. Watson are day-to-day with their respective injuries. John Lucas III is expected to play in Watson's rotation spot Tuesday when the Bulls host the Hawks, due to the sprained elbow C.J. sustained against the Grizzlies on Sunday.
The Bulls finished their season-opening four-game road trip 3-1 after beating the Clippers 114-101 in L.A. on Friday night. As exciting as the Clippers are, they were no match for the Bulls' rebounding and their defensive scheme is borderline juvenile, so the Bulls offense looked godly throughout the night.
The Bulls out-ran and out-shot the Kings all night long for a 108-98 win in Sacramento on Thursday night, but sloppy rebounding, bad second and third efforts, and inconsistent officiating kept the game close. It would've been nicer to see a scoreboard blowout where starters were rested by choice, but instead they were rested in foul trouble. Fortunately, the Bench Mob showed it's highest sign of cohesion throughout the evening.
The Bulls' mini-preseason ended Tuesday, beating the Pacers 93-85 at the United Center. Richard Hamilton makes the Bulls better -- a LOT better. His 13 points on 6-for-12 shooting, six assists, and three rebounds didn't just fit within the system; he played a large role in a wealth of possessions on both ends of the court in almost 30 minutes of PT in his Bulls debut.
