Bulls take another bad loss in Orlando
After losing two in a row to the New York Knicks, Saturday offered a good chance to check the Bulls' state of mind as they battle for a playoff spot.
Everything about the game in Orlando read: Winnable. The Magic, which was missing its top two scorers, center Nikola Vucevic (groin) and guard Victor Oladipo (wrist), started the night riding a six-game losing streak and was playing the second leg of back-to-back games while the Bulls were off on Friday.
Then the game began and it seemed like the Bulls must have voted as a team to skip the playoffs.
The Bulls were flat-out awful from start to finish, with the exception of a brief stretch early in the third quarter. They lost to Orlando 111-89 and with 10 games left in the regular season, there appears to be little hope of this team getting its act together in time.
“All we talked about was getting off to a good start tonight, giving ourselves a chance,” coach Fred Hoiberg told reporters after the game. “We win games more often than not when we win the first quarter. They came out and scored 36 on us in the first 12 minutes.
“Obviously, what I'm saying right now, my message isn't getting across. We're going to sit in a room and hopefully get it figured out tomorrow.”
The only consolation for the Bulls is both Indiana and Detroit lost Saturday. So the Bulls remain two games behind both teams, who are in a virtual tie for seventh and eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
One problem for the Bulls is that two key players, Jimmy Butler and Pau Gasol, are clearly not 100 percent because of sore knees. Gasol finished with 7 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds in 22 minutes. Butler scored 12 points.
If the Bulls (36-36) still have any aspirations to make the playoffs, they'll have to navigate a tough schedule. Next up is a home game against Atlanta on Monday, followed by a virtual must-win at Indiana the following night. Will Butler and Gasol even be able to play in back-to-back games, let alone help lead the Bulls to victory?
There wasn't much to say about Saturday's game. Taj Gibson seemed to be one guy giving maximum effort, hitting 8 of 9 shots for a team-high 16 points. Doug McDermott added 12 points. Derrick Rose had an off night, hitting 4 of 14 shots for 9 points. Nikola Mirotic, Bobby Portis and Justin Holiday combined to hit 3 of 21 shots from the field.
For Orlando, backup center Dewayne Demon scored a career-high 18 points, leading five teams in double figures.
“They're locked in at shootaround, they're getting after it,” Hoiberg said. “They're paying attention to what we're doing, then we're getting slapped in the face and it just spirals downhill. We went out and competed at the beginning of that third quarter, got the thing under 10. They got it back up and we started heaving up home-run shots and step-backs and that kind of thing. Everything that we weren't doing when we were getting back into the game.
“You can't do that. You can't get it all back at once. We were trying to get it all back at once. Again, adversity hit us and we struggle with that.”
Before the game, Butler said he doesn't expect to have surgery on his sore left knee in the off-season.
“I don't know if (the knee is) hurting or it's just all in my mind,” Butler said, according to espn.com. “I think that's where it starts. I don't want to make anything worse. I don't know what to call it. I just got to go out there and just play. Stop thinking so much.”
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