The Chicago Bulls were blown out by the Portland Trail Blazers 122-98 at the Rose Garden last night.

The Blazers built up a formidable 15 point lead at halftime, but the Bulls closed the lead down to 4, making it a 77-73 game with 3:53 remaining in the game. From there on out the Bulls would be outscored 45-25 en route to an embarassing blowout loss.

The Bulls really lost this game up front. The Blazers big front court was too much for the Bulls. Greg Oden especially gave the Bulls problems. Oden finished with 24 points on 7-8 shooting, grabbing 12 rebounds, and blocking 2 shots.

The highlight of the game for the Bulls was two posterizations of Greg Oden. First by Joakim Noah, and then by Derrick Rose. However, those plays just highlight the defense that Oden was playing last night. He was out there challenging shots, and that should be applauded, as his defense was huge last night.

LaMarcus Aldridge also had a big game, putting up 24 points and 13 rebounds.

The Blazers front court was simply too big for the Bulls’. This led the Bulls to get killed at both big spots. This brings up a question of whether Joakim Noah will be big enough to play the center spot longterm. I think that Noah has done a good job at center so far this year, but I think he would be better if he was allowed to play power forward, as he would then no longer be at a size disadvantage every game.

Luol Deng led the Bulls in scoring with 25 points on 9-14 shooting. This was probably Deng’s best game of the season. What stood out to most was that Deng went 2-2 from three point land in the game. If Deng actually can hit the threes, than he needs to start taking them in volume. It will raise his scoring efficiency, and it will improve the Bulls offense, by spreading out the defense.

John Salmons also had a good game, finishing with 22 points on 8-15 shooting. Salmons was very effective shooting the midrange jumper.

Derrick Rose finished with 14 points on 7-14 shooting.

For the Blazers, Brandon Roy put in 18 points, Andre Miller 16, and Rudy Fernandez 13.

Jannero Pargo gave the Bulls a bit of an offensive spark off the bench, scoring 15 points in 13 minutes.

With the loss, the Bulls fall to 6-7 on the season.

Closing Comments

This is the Bulls’ third double digit loss in a row, but is there any reason to be concerned? All three losses were against good Western Conference opponents on the road. In addition to this, the Blazers have been a matchup nightmare for the Bulls over the past year or so, mainly because of the size and length of the Blazer front court. Last year, when the Bulls played the Blazers on the road, they suffered their worst loss in franchise history, losing by 42 points. When they met again at the United Center, the Bulls lost by 14 points. In reality, this was a game the Bulls were probably going to lose. It’s not time to worry yet. However, if the Bulls continue their losing into Milwaukee and against Detroit, then it will be time to worry.

The Chicago Bulls came back from behind to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 113 to 99 behind some strong play from Ben Gordon and Tyrus Thomas.

Both Gordon and Thomas finished the game with 24 points.

Gordon’s final statline was 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists. He shot the ball very well and gave the Bulls a big boost with his three point shooting, going 4-8.

Tyrus Thomas had an impressive 24 points, finishing on multiple alley oop attempts. Thomas went 14-14 from the line. He became the first player to shoot 14-14 from the line since Michael Jordan did it back in the 80’s.

Derrick Rose finished with 16 points, 8 assists, 2 steals. Good game for Rose, setting up his teammates and scoring efficiently.

The other two Bulls big men played well too. Joakim Noah gave the Bulls 8 points and 7 rebounds. Brad Miller came off the bench to give the Bulls a 15 points, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds.

Andre Miller led the 76ers in scoring with 20 points.

Andre Iguodala finished the game with a 19 point and 10 assist double double.

Louis Williams had 16 points off the bench and Willie Green gave the 76ers 12 points.

With the win, the Bulls improve to 39-40 on the season.

Closing Comments

This was one of the few games that I wasn’t able to watch this season, but it looks like one that would have been great to see. The Bulls continued their hot play and high flying offense en route to beating the 76ers.

In the NBA, teams have to play the games to get the playoff series victory, so while Orlando, Cleveland, and Boston are heavy favorites against the Bulls, they are not locks. We saw the Warriors knock out a 67 win Mavericks team and the eighth seeded Knicks knock out the Miami Heat and end up going all the way to the NBA Finals. The games have to be played, and if the Bulls win enough of them, they might find themselves in the Finals like that Knicks team…although they probably won’t find themselves in such a position.

The Bulls, now at 39-40 just have a magic number of 1. The Bulls are a near lock for the playoffs, and are in a great position to get into the sixth spot with three winnable games remaining.

The Chicago Bulls fell to the Philadelphia 76ers tonight 104 to 101 at the United Center.

Ben Gordon hit a clutch three to tie the game at 101. Then Brad Miller fouled Andre Iguodala who made 1 of 2 free throws to give the 76ers a 102 to 101 lead. Rose was then blocked at the rim on a layup. The 76ers then whipped the ball down court to Thaddeus Young who scored on a layup with no one around him. Ben Gordon than dribbled up court, and took a very contested three point shot that rattled off the rim.

Ben Gordon hit another three point shot tonight. He is now just 14 three pointers away from breaking Nick Van Exel’s record for most three pointers by a player in the first five years of their career.

The Bulls just didn’t look good tonight at all. I thought Derrick Rose looked pretty good, finishing with 20 points 6 assists and 6 rebounds. Still, his true shooting percentage wasn’t very high.

Ben Gordon had another tough scoring night, only scoring 9 points on 4-12 shooting. He also had 2 steals. Ben only really had two good looks tonight. One on a midrange jumper in the first quarter, and then on that three point shot he hit late in the fourth quarter. The Bulls need some plays that get Gordon some more good looks at the basket. Other teams don’t have a problem getting their best players good looks, how come the Bulls have this problem? To get said plays, hiring a real NBA coach would probably be a step in the right direction.

John Salmons had a bit of a rough shooting night as well, only scoring 14 points on 5-13 shooting.

Coming into the game, I though Samuel Dalembert would give the Bulls problems (because he always does), and he did just that tonight, having a monster of a game, finishing with 8 points, 19 rebounds, and 4 blocks.

I thought a lot of Dalembert’s big game just came by weak play from Brad Miller and Tyrus Thomas. Brad Miller had 14 points and 7 rebounds, but he was really terrible tonight. He gave up a lot of rebounds because he doesn’t jump for them, and he is always out of place defensively and commits bad fouls to compensate for his poor defense.

Tyrus Thomas has reverted to bad Tyrus Thomas. He finished with 8 points and 5 rebounds tonight. He takes a lot of stupid shots on offense that he doesn’t have the skill to have a hope of making. He doesn’t put a body on anyone in regards to rebounding, and his defense in the paint is usually weak. Thomas extended his block streak.

Kirk Hinrich was good tonight, scoring 14 points on 10 shots. The game wouldn’t have been quite as close as it was without Hinrich’s little scoring punch off the bench.

Joakim Noah also did really well, scoring 13 points and grabbing 9 rebounds. He should have been in instead of Brad Miller in the fourth quarter.

Tim Thomas was bad overall, but his barrage of 3 three pointers helped get the Bulls back in the game.

Andre Miller had 13 points and 13 assists.

The scoring duo of Andre Iguoldala and Thaddeus Young really killed the Bulls. Iguodala had 25 points and Thaddeus Young 31 points. Del Negro had Gordon guarding Young for part of the game. Young is a big, 6′8″ forward. Del Negro is out of his element coaching if he thinks Gordon can guard Thaddeus Young.

Maurice Speights had 10 points. The Bulls gave up way too many easy dunks up to him.

With the loss, the Bulls fall to 29-37 on the season.

Diatribe Against League Pass

This was the screen that we were treated to tonight.

Were there really no games tonight? What about the Bulls vs. 76ers game among others? League Pass just completely died a little before the midpoint of the fourth quarter. A lot happened down the stretch that those using league pass depend on.

David Stern, if you have any respect for your customers, you must do one of two things. First, you could offer a refund to all of those who did not receive the product that they are paying for. The second thing you could do is offer a public apology to the customers. Not your publicist issuing an apology on your behalf, but from you. League Pass has cut out during crucial moments of multiple games this season, and NBA fans simply deserve better.

Closing Comments: Del Negro’s Probably Getting Fired

This was a must win game for the Bulls. The 76ers aren’t a very good team and are also a team that the Bulls are chasing in the playoff race. You have to win these games against mediocre teams and the Bulls have failed to do so all season long and that has to fall on the coach.

Vinny Del Negro, you are probably getting fired at the end of the season. You are a horrible coach. After our joke of a loss to the Orlando Magic, I said that making the playoffs should not be enough for Del Negro to keep his job. The Bulls are a very talented team. They took the core of a team that won nearly 50 games and a first round playoff series, but who just disappointed for one season and added the first overall pick in the draft, and they’re still just on the outside of the playoffs looking in. Making the playoffs with a losing record doesn’t mean we’re a good team, it means the rest of the conference sucks.

If Del Negro doesn’t get the Bulls to .500, he should be fired, simple as that. Anything less would be too little of an improvement over Jim Boylan to warrant Del Negro keeping his job. With Tom Thibodeau, Avery Johnson, Flip Saunders, and Jeff Van Gundy all not in head coaching jobs, the Bulls will have a good crop of coaches to choose from.

The Chicago Bulls lost to the Philadelphia 76ers earlier tonight 103 to 95 in overtime.

The reasons the Bulls lost in this game can easily be divided between regulation and overtime. In regulation, the Bulls failed to finish off the 76ers because of a lack of rebounding and some poor defense by Andres Nocioni. In overtime, the Bulls lost because they could not hit a shot.

The Bulls big men were terrible, except for Tyrus Thomas. The Bulls big men allowed Philadelphia to grab 18 offensive rebounds. Drew Gooden was horrible most of the game, but came on strong in the fourth quarter.

Andres Nocioni was terrible. Vinny Del Negro needs to sit Nocioni and keep him on the bench until Nocioni starts putting out effort on the defensive end. Nocioni wasn’t even jumping for rebounds out there in the fourth quarter of a close game.

Still, behind some great defense and dunking from Tyrus Thomas, the Bulls were able to hang on. With the Bulls down 90 to 88, Derrick Rose had one of his layups blocked but Tyrus slammed it in for the put back jam.

Thomas finished the game with 14 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 blocks.

In overtime, the Bulls never just got there shooting going. Ben Gordon set the tone with poor shooting, missing all of his shots in overtime. Early in the overtime period, Gordon was tripped, what looked like it was probably intentional, by Andre Miller. Gordon than played selfish ball the next few possessions to try to prove a point to Miller. Although Gordon backed off the one on one play and gave the other guys a shot after that, but they never really hit their shots as well.

In regulation, the Bulls backcourt was good. Gordon was solid, scoring 18 points, grabbing 8 rebounds, and dishing 4 assists. Derrick Rose was phenomenal scoring wise, scoring 24 points, although he only had 2 assists. Philadelphia’s backcourt did a good job crowding Rose and Gordon, making the game difficult for both. Rose and Gordon were also bothered by the length and athleticism of Philadelphia’s big men on help defense.

Luol Deng looked solid from time to time, scoring 11 points on 4-11 shooting.

The Bulls were killed by a solid three man attack by the 76ers. Elton Brand had 22 points and 14 rebounds, Andre Miller had 28 points, and Andre Iguodala had 25 points.

The Bulls also lost as a result of their turnovers. The Bulls had a total of 24 turnovers. Derrick Rose and Drew Gooden had 6 turnovers a piece and Ben Gordon had 4 turnovers.

This was a disappointing loss for the Bulls because it was such a winnable game. The Bulls will have to try to bounce back tomorrow night in Milwaukee.

The Chicago Bulls defeated the Philadelphia 76ers tonight in Philadelphia 103 to 92 to finish up their circus trip.

The Bulls fell behind in the first quarter, but fought there way back in the 2nd quarter. The Bulls trailed by 3 points at the half.

During the second quarter, Derrick Rose made Andre Miller fall down when he crossed him over, breaking his ankles.

In the third quarter, Ben Gordon got hot, scoring 13 points (would have been 14 points if it wasn’t for a Derrick Rose lane violation on one of his free throws). After Gordon opened up a sizable lead for the Bulls, Derrick Rose blew it open with a spectacular finish to the third quarter, capping it off from an alley-oop dunk that was assisted by Ben Gordon. \

The Bulls outscored the 76ers 31 to 11 in the third, and entered the fourth with a seventeen point lead. Del Negro got a little reckless in his coaching when he took Rose and Gordon out of the game, allowing the 76ers to creep back in, but the Bulls hung on to win the game.

The Bulls backcourt duo was simply great today. Ben Gordon finished the game with 21 points, 4 assists, and 6 rebounds. Derrick Rose finished the game with 18 points, 10 assists, and 5 rebounds. Having two guys who can take over the game at anytime makes the Bulls a really deadly team.

Drew Gooden also had a strong game, scoring 20 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Gooden should be considered the Bulls third option, behind Rose and Gordon now. Gooden has averaged 19.4 points and 10.6 rebounds in the past 5 games. The Bulls were 3-2 in these 5 games. As long as the Bulls are getting third wheel production out of either Gooden or Deng, they will be a tough team to beat.

Luol Deng was pretty much a nonfactor in today’s game, but he by no means had a bad game, finishing with 8 points on 3-7 shooting in his return to the starting lineup. If Deng doesn’t start stepping it up soon, Paxson will need to begin exploring trade options before Deng loses all of his value.

Larry Hughes had 16 points in his new role as the Bulls’ sixth man. The 76ers left him open for three and Hughes made them pay by shooting 4-6 from three point land.

For the 76ers, Elton Brand had 21 points and 12 rebounds, but didn’t seem to have too much of an impact on the game.

Andre Iguodala only had 8 points on 3-9 shooting. The 76ers tried to post him up on Gordon early in the game, but that experiment failed.

Andre Miller had 15 points and 10 assists and Thaddeus Young had 17 points.

The Bulls finished the circus trip 3-4 and finish the month of November with a record of 8-9. This is a terrific start, given that the Bulls have had the toughest schedule in the NBA thus far, and also because Derrick Rose and Ben Gordon have been the only one’s who’ve had good all around months for the Bulls. Drew Gooden has been good as of late.

The Bulls will play the 76ers again on Tuesday at the United Center.