No history-making road win streak for Bulls
The Bulls had a chance to make history on Thursday in Sacramento.
They could have won their first seven road games of the season for the first time in franchise history. It didn't work out, though, as the Bulls couldn't sustain a fast start and lost to the Kings 103-88 at Sleep Train Arena.
On the bright side, the Bulls dropped their last two games in Sacramento by 29 and 42 points, so this loss was relatively close in comparison.
As usual, Jimmy Butler was the best thing working for the Bulls. He finished with 23 points and 8 rebounds. Joakim Noah has 11 rebounds and 6 assists.
DeMarcus Cousins finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds for the Kings, while Rudy Gay added 20 points.
The Bulls started 6-0 on the road once before, in 1996-97. In fact, they had a 12-0 overall record before dropping road game No. 7 at Utah 105-100. Michael Jordan scored 44 points that night and Karl Malone had 36 in what turned out to be a Finals preview.
The current Bulls were once again without Derrick Rose and Pau Gasol on Thursday. Rose missed third game with a left hamstring strain, while Gasol missed his second game with a left calf strain.
Rose has said he's feeling better, but it doesn't seem likely he'll play Friday in Portland, either. If bad vibes count for anything, Rose might want to avoid the scene of last year's season-ending knee injury, anyway.
It's tough to predict when Gasol will return. A calf strain might sound minor, but it's nearly impossible to run in that state and coming back too early would risk reinjury.
“You had to figure it was a muscle strain and strains usually take their time to heal and scar,” Gasol told reporters in Sacramento, according to espn.com. “So I'm just trying to let it heal.”
The Kings (7-5) are off to a surprisingly good start. Heading into Thursday's action, Sacramento led the NBA in both rebound margin (plus 9.7) and free-throw attempts per game (34.5). The Bulls won the rebounds 42-40, but not the free-throw attempts.
The Bulls (8-4) started well, leading 29-22 after one quarter. They knocked down 5 of 11 shots from 3-point range, getting 2 from Mike Dunleavy and one each by Kirk Hinrich, Aaron Brooks and Nikola Mirotic.
They couldn't keep up the pace, though, and were outscored 58-39 in the second and third quarters. The Bulls didn't hit any 3-pointers in the final three quarters.
Trailing by 12 heading into the fourth quarter, the Bulls never got closer than 8. Their best chance at a comeback ended when Brooks' driving lay in that would have cut it to 6 was waved off by an offensive foul with just under five minutes left.
Get the latest Bulls news via Twitter by following @McGrawDHBulls.