November 2012 Archives

* The Bulls throttled the Mavericks, 101-78, on Wednesday and have now won two of three since a season-long 3-game losing streak (November 17-21). Chicago is 3-0 when scoring 100+ points in 2012-13.
* Chicago's leading scorer, Luol Deng scored 20 points in Wednesday's victory - his 13^th straight game tallying double-digits. Deng averaged just 7.0 points in two games vs. the 76ers last season and is now averaging 14.7 points in 21 career games vs. Philadelphia overall.
* The Bulls took two of three from the Sixers last season and are 7-4 in their last 11 games vs. Philadelphia overall.
* Jrue Holliday netted 30 points vs. the Bulls at United Center on March 17 last season - his highest point output in any road game since joining the NBA in 2009-10.

* Chicago has won three straight over Dallas. The Mavericks have not beaten the Bulls since the 2009-10 season (113-106 win at Dallas on March 17, 2010).

* After a 4-1 start, the Mavericks have lost seven of their last 10 to drop to 7-8. The Mavericks lost 100-98 at Philadelphia last night. Dallas has allowed at least 90 points in all 15 games this season, and has allowed at least 100 in nine of its last 11 games.

* The Bulls lost at home on Monday night to the Bucks, 93-92, blowing a 27-point lead. Chicago has lost four of its last five games. The Bulls have lost consecutive home games for the first time since the 2009-10 season (lost 5 straight home games in March 2010).

* Chris Kaman (20 points) and Elton Brand (17 points) combined for 37 points last night in Philadelphia. It was the first time Kaman and Brand each scored 17-plus points as teammates since April 13, 2007 when Brand scored 20 and Kaman scored 17 against the Portland Trail Blazers in a 107-89 Los Angeles Clippers' victory.

* Darren Collison had 12 points, 6 assists and 5 steals off the bench last night for the Mavericks. Since 1986-87, this was just the fourth time a Dallas player has totaled 10-plus points, five-plus assists and five-plus steals while coming off the bench: 11/9/1991 Fat Lever, 12/5/2005 Devin Harris and 12/3/2010 Jason Terry.

* Richard Hamilton scored a season-high 30 points on Monday night versus Milwaukee. It was Hamilton's first 30-point game as a Bull and his first since scoring 30 against the Bulls (for the Pistons) on April 1, 2011.

* The Bulls defeated the Bucks on Saturday, 93-86, to move within 0.5 games of Milwaukee in the Central Division. Chicago has won the last nine games in the series.

* After opening 6-2, the Bucks have lost their last three games. Milwaukee has hit fewer than 20 percent of its three-point shots in all three losses, combining for a mark of .161 (10-for-62).

* Chicago snapped a three-game losing streak with Sunday's victory over Milwaukee. The Bulls are 3-3 both home and away, though they're averaging six fewer points per game at home (91.2) than they are on the road (97.2).

* Monta Ellis has averaged 27.2 points per game versus Chicago since the beginning of 2008-09, a rate exceeded by only LeBron James (29.6) and Kevin Durant (27.3, minimum 5 games).

* Although he led the Bucks with 23 points on Saturday, Brandon Jennings had to be carried off the court after injuring his ankle late in the game. But he reportedly expects to play on Monday.

* With 22 points and a season-high 19 rebounds on Saturday, Carlos Boozer came within one rebound of recording the seventh 20-20 game of his career, and his first as a Bull.

Losing three games in a row was an ugly end to the West Coast road trip, but I don't believe there's any sense of panic setting, nor should there be.

We all knew there would be tough stretches in the schedule with Derrick sidelined.   Add to that the new faces on the team.   The Bench Mob is a completely new and it takes time to figure out how the chemistry will work with the new guys.

Tom Thibodeau knows the starters can be a good defensive unit.   They have to figure out a way to add more offense, especially down the stretch in close games.

Good Afternoon to all of my "Peeps" out there in Blog World. The Bulls finish the Circus trip tonight in Milwaukee against the Bucks at 8pm on WGN America. The trip started off great with an overtime win in Houston but since then it has been all downhill, losing 3 straight games. The Bucks might be just what the Bulls need to get out of this funk, not Neil. Chicago has won eight straight contest vs Milwaukee. This is the last game of the Circus trip and the Bulls will have 4 straight home games before hitting the road Decenber 5th to head to Cleveland. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

-SK

* The Bulls have won the last eight games in this series. They have scored 106 points or more in each of the last four of these victories.

* Eight of Chicago's 11 games this season have been decided by seven points or less. This is the last contest on the Bulls' five-game Circus road trip. After winning the first game of the trip, Chicago has dropped the last three.

* Entering this weekend, the Bucks were one of just three teams (Spurs, Wizards) outscoring their opponents by more than 10 points per game off the bench. The Bucks' reserves are averaging 41.9 points per game, compared to 31.6 ppg for their opponents' bench players.

* Kirk Hinrich is really struggling with his shooting in all areas, shooting career-low percentages overall (.305), from three-point range (.235) and from the free-throw line (.471). In fact, among players with a minimum of 50 FGA, 15 3-point FGA and 15 FTA in 2012-13, he ranks second to last in both field-goal and free-throw percentage, while his three-point percentage is 10^th worst.

* John Henson had 17 points and 18 rebounds in Milwaukee's loss to Miami on Wednesday. Since 1986-87, Henson is the only Bucks' rookie to have at least 17 points and 18 rebounds in a game. The last rookie on any team to accomplish this was DeMarcus Cousins, who had 18 points and 18 boards against Utah on March 5, 2011.

* Ersan Ilyasova has struggled so far in 2012-13, seeing his numbers drop from 13.0 points per game on 49.2 percent shooting in 2011-12 to 6.3 ppg on 31.3 percent this season. But Ilyasova had a career-high 32 points (along with 10 rebounds) in his last game against the Bulls (March 7, 2012).

The loss to the Clippers on Saturday night was the first blowout loss of the season for the Bulls.  You are going to suffer through four or five of those losses each season.   And on the other hand, you are going to win a number of those games as well.   You have to recognize that the true measure of your team lies somewhere in the middle.   Tom Thibodeau knows this...what's why he nevers looks ahead or behind in his preparation for each game.

Certainly Tom saw a number of things in the Clipper game that he would like the Bulls to improve.   You can see that he addressed the turn-over situation at halftime as the Bulls had 12 in the first half and only 4 in the second half.

I am sure in the over-time win in Phoenix, Tom found some things that he would like to improve upon.  It's that nightly approach that has made the Bulls so successful over the last 2 years.  

This is the time of year that the Bulls vacate the United Center for their early trip to the West Coast.   Taking a look at how the schedule lays out...the Bulls have only 1 back-to-back on this trip, and 3 occasions with 2 consecutive days off.   Clearly the schedule this year favors the Bulls compared to other years when they played as many as 7 games in 11 nights with a slew of back-to-back contests.

This works well for head coach Tom Thibodeau's desire to get in practice time between games and it gives the players a chance to rest and recharge between games.

The Bulls make 3 trips to the West Coast instead of the usual 2, and that creates the situation that will give the Bulls a chance to be successful on the road.

* The Bulls have won four of their last five road games against the Clippers, with each victory during the stretch coming by at least 13 points.

* The Bulls have allowed at least 100 points in back-to-back games, after doing so just twice all of last season.

* The Clippers have won four consecutive games by an average of 13.8 points per contest. During the streak, the Clippers have shot 51.0 percent from the field.

* So far this season, the Bulls have made more free throws (157) than their opponents have attempted (152).

* Jamal Crawford, leading the Clippers and all NBA bench players with 20.5 points per game this season, has also recorded at least three steals in back-to-back games.

* Joakim Noah is one of just three players (Tim Duncan, Andrei Kirilenko) who have recorded at least 15 blocks and 10 steals so far this season.

* The Bulls have not lost at Phoenix since November 15, 2007 (five years ago tomorrow). The Bulls have won three straight at Phoenix, including a 123-115 double-overtime thriller on November 24, 2010. Overall, Chicago has won three straight in the series and six of the last seven.

* Despite double-doubles from Joakim Noah (17 pts, 11 reb) and Luol Deng (26 pts, 11 reb), the Bulls lost at home to the Celtics on Monday, 101-95, and have now lost three of five after starting the season 2-0.

* The Suns beat the Nuggets on Monday, 110-100, getting double-figure scoring from seven different players. The Suns had a season-low six turnovers in evening their record at 4-4.

* Luol Deng is averaging 23.0 points per game in his last four games and is shooting 53.6 percent (37-for-69) from the field.

* Marcin Gortat has at least one blocked shot in all eight games this season and is tied for the NBA lead with 29 (tied with Oklahoma City's Serge Ibaka).

* The Bulls allowed the Celtics to shoot 50.6 percent (41-for-81) on Monday. It was the first regular-season game in which Chicago allowed its opponent to shoot over 50 percent since January 17, 2012 when Phoenix shot 51.4 percent (38-for-74) at Chicago.

The Minnesota Timberwolves visit the United Center tonight at 6:30pm on WGN America. The Bulls have owned the Timberwolves as of late winning five straight games. Kevin Love is out for 6-8 weeks with a right hand injury and Ricky Rubio is out indefinitely while recovering from right knee surgery. Minnesota has overcome the injuries and has started the season going 4-1. The Bulls season-high 5-game homestand ends on Monday with the annual Thanksgiving West Coast trip looming ahead. Luol Deng has led the Bulls in scoring over the last three games and looks to lead the Bulls tonight vs the Timberwolves.

-SK

* The Bulls dropped a 97-91 decision to the Thunder on Thursday and have now lost two of three since beginning the season with two straight victories. Chicago is just 14-13 since the beginning of last season when scoring fewer than 93 points (39-5 when scoring 93+).

* Including a 111-100 victory in the only meeting last season, the Bulls have won five straight vs. the Timberwolves by an average of 15.8 points per game.

* In the only matchup between these clubs last season, the Thunder defeated Chicago, 92-78. Chicago has lost two of its last three home games against Oklahoma City.

* The Bulls will be looking to open the season 4-1 for the second straight campaign. Chicago is holding its foes to just 88.8 points per game this season - the fourth-best scoring defense in the NBA.

* The Thunder will be looking to avoid dropping two consecutive road games to open a season for the first time since the 2008-09 campaign when they dropped each of their first seven away from home.

* After topping 20 points in each of his first three games of the season, Kevin Durant scored 15 against Toronto on Tuesday. Durant has scored at least 25 points in each of his last seven games against Chicago.

* Chicago's leading scorer this season, Joakim Noah, is averaging just 8.2 points in nine career games against the Oklahoma City franchise. 

* Russell Westbrook (27 points) and Kevin Durant (26 points) combined for 53 of Oklahoma City's 92 points in the lone meeting between these teams last season.

* The Bulls have won five of their last six games against the Magic overall, however, they have just three wins in their last 11 home games against Orlando.

* The Magic will be looking to open the season with three consecutive wins for the first time since the 2009-10 campaign.

* After opening the season with two consecutive wins, the Bulls were defeated by New Orleans on Saturday, 89-82. Chicago is holding its opponents to 87.3 points per game this season - the second-best scoring defense in the NBA.
* Glen Davis has scored at least 20 points in each of his two games this season, marking the first time in his career in which he has scored 20 in consecutive games.

* Joakim Noah has posted a double-double in two of his three games so far this season. Noah led the Bulls with 24 double-doubles in 2011-12.

* In their two games so far this season, Orlando is outscoring its opponents 108.5 to 91.5. The Magic boast the second-best scoring offense in the NBA this season.

In the first two games of the season, the Bulls' Bigs - starters Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer - have taken up the role of leading scorers in Derrick Rose's absence.   This is a product of Tom Thibodeau's game plan, which is to play inside out.    Move the ball inside for the first scoring option.

Noah and Boozer are in their 3rd season playing together and you can see how comfortable they have become with each other.   They are great passers, unselfish and have made big contributions to the team's good start.

Good afternoon to all of my peeps out there in the blog-o-sphere. The Bulls return home to the United Center after a quick trip to Cleveland where the beat up on the Cavaliers. Nate Robinson came off the bench and poured in 16 points with 12 assists and 7 of 9 from the field giving him his 8th career double-double. The Bulls shot an amazing 64% from the field while holding the Cavs to 40.5 Field Goal percentage and 86 points. Tonight the Hornets travel to Chicago without Anthony Davis, also know as the 1st pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. The Bulls have beaten the Hornets in eight straight contests, with New Orleans last winning back in March of 2008. Tip-Off is at 7pm for our Chicago viewers on WCIU (Channel 26)

-SK

* Chicago has won the last eight games in this series. All three meetings last season were decided by at least 21 points.

* The Bulls outshot (41.8% to 40.5%), outrebounded (46 to 40) and committed fewer turnovers (18 to 21)) than the Kings in their season opener on Wednesday. Chicago went 15-0 last season when having the advantage in all three of those categories.

* Cleveland had 24 points off second-chance opportunities in its season-opening win over Washington, while holding the Wizards to just seven second-chance points. The Cavaliers had 20+ second-chance points just three times all of last season.

* Joakim Noah had 23 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, five steals and 3 blocked shots in Chicago's season opener on Wednesday. He is just the fifth player since 2000-01 to put up a 23+/10+/3+/5+/3+ line in a game. The last one to do so prior to Noah was Josh Smith (28/12/3/5/3) against the Pacers last February 8.

* Dion Waiters had 17 points in his NBA debut on Tuesday. He has already started more games in the NBA (1) than he did in his two-year college career at Syracuse (0).

* Anderson Varejao's 23 rebounds on Tuesday were the most by any player in his team's season opener since Sidney Wicks had 23 boards for the San Diego Clippers against the Rockets in 1980.