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 best rookie in tonight’s game wasn’t Derrick Rose, but instead someone named George Hill. As you might imagine, with that reality, the Bulls lost tonight. The San Antonio Spurs downed the Bulls 98 to 86.

George Hill finished the game with 19 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 assists. Derrick Rose had trouble staying in front of Hill and when Gooden was at center, Hill met little to no resistance at the rim, allowing him to score easily.

The other rookie, Derrick Rose, finished the game with 10 points, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds.

Ben Gordon was the Bulls best player tonight, scoring 23 points on 9-16 FG, grabbing 5 rebounds, and dishing 3 assists. Gordon caught fire in the third to give the Bulls a small lead. However, against the San Antonio Spurs, you need multiple players to step up, as the Spurs are great at making in-game adjustments. The Spurs shifted the defensive focus to Gordon, meeting him with double teams, and no one else bothered to step up, causing the Bulls offense to stagnate for the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth quarter.

That is where the Bulls have problems with one of their top players being a rookie. Derrick Rose has been great so far this season, but he isn’t going to be able to step up every game, and this was one of those games where Rose didn’t step up and take over, only scoring 2 points in the second half. Rose by no means had a bad game, he just didn’t have a great game.

Larry Hughes was also a big component in our loss. Hughes finished the game with 8 points onf 4-14 shooting. Hughes wasn’t taking bad shots, they were all good looks, he just has trouble making his shots whether they are bad looks or good looks.

Andres Nocioni was dreadful tonight. He had 5 points on 2-6 shooting, and had a costly sequence where he got a flagrant foul and followed it up by a technical.

Drew Gooden had a solid game, scoring 20 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Unfortunately, Gooden’s interior defense was soft, and his help defense was non-existent.

Tim Duncan had 21 points and 8 rebounds. The game from Duncan was a lot better than it looks, as he let the other Spurs take over in the 2nd half. Duncan had 18 of his 21 points in the first half.

The Bulls played sloppy in the 2nd half. The Bulls only had 4 turnovers in the first half and played a nice controlled game. In the 2nd half, the Bulls turned the ball over 9 times.

Manu Ginobili had 15 points, and scored effectively for the Spurs.

Luol Deng had 10 points in the game on 4-7 shooting. That is a good indication that the Bulls might get something out of Deng in the future, but most of his scoring was in garbage time.

The Bulls are now 2-4 on the circus trip and 7-9 on the season. The Spurs are now 8-6 on the season.

The Bulls next game is against the Philadelphia 76ers.