Bulls hope Knicks can provide a cure
Despite their 2-8 record, the Bulls have plenty to be thankful for this week. Most notably, an appearance by the New York Knicks on the schedule.
The Bulls resume their road trip Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden to face a team that seems to have cornered the market in disruptive behavior.
Detroit guard Flip Murray provided this assessment after the Knicks' losing streak reached eight with a 98-86 loss to the Pistons on Wednesday.
"They looked like they didn't want to compete," Murray said. "They were just out there. All you had to do was look at their body language. I don't know what's going on over there, but they have a lot of issues."
A day earlier, the Knicks (2-9) heard their home fans chant "Fire Isiah!" while losing to Golden State 108-82. Some are wondering if coach Isiah Thomas will even have his job by Saturday.
"This is my fault tonight," Thomas said after losing to the Warriors. "This is not on the players. This is on Isiah. You never want to see this type of basketball. This is on my desk. This is not on anybody but Isiah."
That's not the only thing. Thomas somehow survived last month even when a jury awarded $11.6 million to former team executive Anucha Browne Sanders, who accused Thomas of sexual harassment. Thomas himself does not have to pay any damages, and the Knicks have promised to appeal the ruling.
The fun continued during a recent 0-4 road trip. On a flight to Phoenix, Thomas reportedly argued with Stephon Marbury after the highly-paid point guard learned he would be demoted from the starting lineup.
Marbury flew home on his own, rejoined the team a day later and saw action that night against the Los Angeles Clippers. According to a Yahoo.com report, the rest of the team voted that Marbury should not play. Marbury was back in the starting lineup for the 2o most recent losses.
Of course, the Knicks are probably just as happy to see the struggling Bulls headed to town. But at least the Bulls have a history of turning things around during Thanksgiving weekend in New York.
The Bulls were 3-9 last year on Nov. 25, then beat the Knicks 106-95 to begin a streak of 12 wins in 13 games. That was also the night Ben Wallace was benched twice for wearing a headband in violation of team rules and Bulls coach Scott Skiles was ejected early in the third quarter.
"I ran on the floor and shook my finger (during Tuesday's loss at Denver) and couldn't get tossed out of the game," Skiles joked on Wednesday at the Berto Center.
"This is not unlike what has happened to us each of the last three years. We get out of the gate slow, shots aren't falling, we get a little discouraged. Then we discover who we really are, which is a hard-playing, intense, defensive-oriented team that still put up 99 points a game last year."
There are several differences between these Bulls and last year's version. This season's squad has played worse but has also had several injury issues, such as Luol Deng missing the past two games with a sore back, Wallace starting the season with a sore ankle and Ben Gordon missing most of preseason with an ankle sprain.
Last year's turnaround was helped by a very favorable December schedule, which featured an eight-game homestand. By the end of the month, the Bulls were 19-12.
This time, the home-heavy portion of the schedule doesn't arrive until January and March. After visiting New York and Toronto this weekend, the Bulls have three straight home dates against Atlanta, Charlotte and Dallas. But then, it's an even seven home and seven road games through the end of the month.
The December opponents include Boston twice, Detroit and San Antonio on the road, along with Dallas, Houston and Orlando at home. Last year's sudden turnaround will be tough for the Bulls to duplicate.