Bulls overcoming NBA obstacles
An NBA official for an opposing team was talking about the Bulls recently and suggested Joakim Noah's thumb injury, which will keep him sidelined for 8 to 10 weeks, may not be such a bad thing.
“They won't peak too early,” he said.
As long as the Bulls keep winning while short-handed, there is no reason to complain. They went 9-6 while Carlos Boozer recovered from a broken hand and improved to 2-1 without Noah with Wednesday's 87-80 win at Washington.
The Bulls (18-9) have won nine of their last 10 games. Boozer piled up 30 points against the Wizards, and Derrick Rose scored 25.
As of Thursday morning, the Bulls were tied in the loss column with Miami for second place in the Eastern Conference. New York, Atlanta and Orlando are next in line with 12 losses each.
The next obstacle facing the Bulls has more to do with the schedule. They were tabbed for a Christmas matinee against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
So the Bulls flew from Washington to New York on Thursday, will hold a Christmas Eve practice at MSG, then play on Saturday.
Even after taking on the Knicks, there won't be any time to enjoy the holidays. The Bulls must travel to Detroit and face the Pistons on Sunday.
“It's tough, knowing I'm going to be gone a long time and missing my family,” Rose said. “It's very tough. But it's the NBA. You've got to fight through it and hope one day the schedule will be on your side.”
Success has changed some things for the Bulls. They stayed on the road through Thanksgiving weekend for the first time since 1995. Now they'll play a Christmas Day road game for the first time since 1986.
A couple of Bulls grew up in New York — Noah and Taj Gibson. So Rose will have a place to go during what little free time he has in Manhattan.
“I know it's going to be a crazy day,” Rose said. “I'll talk to my family, probably Skype them. I'm going over to Joakim's house for Christmas. That's going to be cool.
“It's going to be my first time over at someone else's house for Christmas. I know it's going to be a lot of fun over there, and I hope I get some presents.”
A majority of Bulls players are unmarried, so only a few will miss the experience of watching their kids open gifts on Christmas morning. Boozer is at the other end of that spectrum with three young children.
“It's going to be tough,” Boozer said. “When you have Christmas (games) at home, it's cool because you get to play the game and then go to the crib.
“We have a very weird holiday season this year. Thanksgiving, we were in Denver. This trip we're in New York. We have a couple of back-to-back (home) games around New Year's. So it's very different for us. But this is the NBA. We'll deal with it.”
Kurt Thomas has three young kids, along with some older ones. He spent several years playing for the Knicks, so he's prepared.
“I've got a lot of friends and family that are up there in New York,” said Thomas, who started at center the past two games. “It will be a good time for me.”
Thomas is also planning to bring his kids along, so he won't miss the holiday traditions. He wasn't sure if he'll be able to get a tree in his hotel room, though.
“We'll see,” he said. “I've got to make sure Santa shows up.”