Bulls definitely lacking in loss to 'lowly' 76ers
Maybe the circus road trip isn't to blame. These Bulls are just slow starters.
Friday's home opener at the United Center was a bad experience all the way through.
Even the halftime show -- a pair of lengthy songs from the stage musical "Wicked" -- drew groans from the audience and left players from both teams stranded in the tunnels waiting to warm up.
A home game against the Philadelphia 76ers is supposed to be an automatic win for a team expected to challenge for the Eastern Conference title. But the Bulls turned in a miserable performance and fell to 0-2 on the season with a disturbing 96-85 loss.
During the final minute, the exiting crowd at the United Center launched into a half-hearted "Kobe, Kobe" chant, referencing unhappy Lakers star Kobe Bryant.
"I don't know why we had no energy for opening night, but we didn't," forward Luol Deng said. "Tonight was just a horrible performance out there."
Actually, this was the second year in a row the Bulls stunk up the arena for their home opener. They coughed up a late lead and lost last season's debut to Sacramento, a team that didn't come close to making the playoffs.
"We looked frightened early in the game, which we have almost every home opener in the past three or four years," coach Scott Skiles said.
A play at the end of the third quarter epitomized the Bulls' lack of effort against the 76ers. Ben Gordon missed a jumper with about five seconds on the clock. Philadelphia's Willie Green collected the long rebound and sprinted downcourt with absolutely no resistance and dunked to give the visitors a 71-61 lead at the end of three.
"It's the second game in a row we had great difficulty getting back on defense and, frankly, don't look like we care about it too much, either," Skiles said. "Pretty distressing."
A couple of Bulls showed up ready to play. Tyrus Thomas turned in 21 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks. Gordon led the Bulls with 25 points but struggled late.
On the other hand, a quiet Deng scored 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting. Ben Wallace produced 4 rebounds, 1 point and played sparingly in the second half. Kirk Hinrich, meanwhile, was outscored by Sixers counterpart Andre Miller 22-0 through the end of three quarters.
The Bulls were down 52-49 midway through the third when Hinrich was knocked to the floor while trying to score on a fastbreak, but he was called for an offensive foul. A few seconds later, Hinrich committed his fourth foul and tacked on a technical. The Sixers hit the 3 ensuing free throws and opened a 12-point advantage by the time Hinrich returned to the court.
The home team managed one legitimate comeback. Andres Nocioni's 3-pointer with 5:16 left capped an 11-1 run and closed the gap to 82-80. Nocioni then missed a 3-pointer that could have given the Bulls the lead.
On Philadelphia's next trip, center Samuel Dalembert got loose for a dunk. After a Deng turnover, Miller (25 points) converted a 3-point play after Gordon didn't get the call while trying to take a charge.
The Sixers eventually went ahead 88-80 with 2:53 left, and the Bulls never got closer than 5 points.
Too often, the Bulls left the script on offense and either took quick shots or dribbled into traffic. The speedy Sixers (1-1) took advantage with a 25-5 edge in fastbreak points.