It’s hard to definitively say this is rock bottom, when that easily could have been said about any of the last five games.
After a despicable first half in which the Chicago Bulls simply did not show up to play, they couldn’t recover from a 19-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the now 5-win Brooklyn Nets, losing 113-103.
This is the second five-game losing streak of the Bulls’ season.
The United Center crowd rallied behind Dalen Terry’s effort and intensity, perhaps even buying into the chance for a win as anything more than a mirage against a bottom-dweller they should have easily dispatched.
After a challenging opening section of the season, the Bulls faced an easy stretch. Falling to 8-7 following their strong opening, the Bulls had a chance to rattle off some wins against the dregs of the NBA: the Wizards, Pelicans, Hornets, Pacers and Nets. A matchup with the Orlando Magic sandwiched between the Pacers and Nets represented the only opponent with an above-.500 record.
Could a 5-1 run push them back into the East’s top-six?
Seems funny to suggest now that they’ve gone 1-5 and fallen to 9-12 on the season.
To add injury to insult, rookie Noa Essengue will miss the season with left shoulder surgery.
Over a quarter of the way through the NBA season, the Bulls have shown their true colors. 5-0 was fun and Josh Giddey will keep racking up triple-doubles. But they have completely abandoned the traits that originally made them one of the feel-good stories of the early season. They may go through another hot stretch where they recapture their lightning in a bottle, but the larger sample is damning.
Up next: Bulls host the Indiana Pacers for a rematch of Saturday’s game.
Tune into the CHGO Bulls postgame live:
Cancel the cobbler.
As if Donovan delivering the “Essengue is having season-ending shoulder surgery” news in his pregame media availability wasn’t bad enough…then we all had to watch this game. Adding insult to injury in the most literal sense.
I know the Bulls have been shorthanded these past few games. More so than usual, even. I don’t care. The effort and execution have both been atrocious. And against a collection of most of the league’s bottom feeders. If your team’s “strength” is supposed to be depth, and your team is missing a lot of guys…That’s just a bad team. The Bulls are bad right now. Will they be less bad when they *hopefully* get some guys back soon? Perhaps. But I’d bet still pretty bad.
Anthony Davis or Giannis Antetokounmpo, anyone? I’d rather have a great player who’s hurt than a team full of lesser talents who are…also hurt.
Shout-out Giddey. He did his part tonight. Which begs the question I’ve been dreadfully contemplating since that trade in the summer of 2024: if Giddey is your team’s best player…how good is your team?
If I was at the UC, I would have been booing this team from the second quarter on.
What a putrid half of basketball in the first half. The Nets shot 41 percent from the field and 29 percent from three and were still up 10!!!
Giddey was angry and of course I liked it. He was sick of losing and really played his hardest. But he cannot do it alone.
Julian Phillips was solid. Didn’t look like the game was too fast and he knows his role: run, be athletic and shoot corner 3s.
I know the Bulls have injuries. Please remember the Bulls have yet to be fully healthy this season. No one cares about this when they were winning so I will not use it as an excuse for this type of effort on the floor.
— Big Dave
