Yes, the Hornets are not a very good team at the moment, but this is still a team with a lot of talent and winning games on the road in the NBA is still a difficult task for any team, especially one that is missing 2 key cogs of its rotation. The backcourt of Lance Stephenson and Kemba Walker combined for 43 points on 16-36 shooting, so if there is one thing that Thibs will hammer out, it will be the isolation defense of the Bulls backcourt. Still, there were far more positives than negatives to take from this game. Harassing Al Jefferson into a 13 points on 5-13 shooting night is quite impressive, and a big reason why the Bulls did let Walker and Stephenson have big games was because of the concerted effort to limit the Hornets’ inside game. Walker and Stephenson are both high volume, low efficiency scorers, and putting the offense in their hands seemed to be Thibs’ gameplan.

Some things to note are Nikola Mirotic’s 11 points and 12 rebounds, with 9 of his points coming in the 4th quarter. Now, Mirotic is not going to overnight entrench himself into Thibs’ crunch-time lineup, but it is a good sign that the rookie is becoming more comfortable with the NBA’s gameflow and that he is looking for his own shot. Rose had a quiet 15 points on 5-12 shooting, but at this point, the fact that he played 28 minutes one night after a 2OT game is the more important takeaway from this. The Bulls now get a much needed break, as they host the Warriors on Saturday night in what should be a great “measuring stick” game for them.

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The Bulls lost 114-109 to the Denver Nuggets to fall to 2-3 on their current 7-game roadtrip. All of the talk, however, is once again on Derrick Rose after he did not come back for the second half. Playing the second leg of a back-to-back on the road may have proven to be too tall a task for Rose, who left with tightness in his left hamstring. Rose missed 4 straight games before returning yesterday against the Jazz, and the Bulls will do everything in their power to ensure his health in is proper order come playoff time.

On the other hand, Rose almost certainly would have helped out a team that looked lethargic until the waning minutes of the 4th where they made it close. Jimmy Butler continued his excellent play as he led the Bulls with 32 points on 7-13 shooting. More impressively, he went 18-20 from the line, showing an aggressiveness in attacking the rim that had been missing from his game till this season. Pau Gasol (22 points, 11 rebounds) and Mike Dunleavy (17 points) chipped in to give the Bulls some efficient offensive play.   Without Rose, losing to a Nuggets team that was riding a 5-game winning streak and was playing at home is not the worst thing, especially considering they were playing on the second leg of a back-to-back. It’s these types of games from players like Butler that offer more postseason promise than in years past, all with the caveat that Rose stays healthy enough.

A more troubling sign than just the loss is how the Bulls lost the game. Their defense just has not been up to their standards thus far, and letting a team score 114 points on 50% shooting is just not Bulls (or Thibs) basketball. The Bulls got out-rebounded 45-37, and as a team only shot 42.7% from the field, numbers that usually will spell out a loss, especially on the road.

Despite the poor defense and the poor shooting, the Bulls were only down 106-109 when Ty Lawson made a step back jumper  with 8.3 seconds left to put the Nuggets up 5. That effectively sealed the game, but it was a valiant comeback attempt by the Bulls, who trailed 105-91 with 4 minutes left in the game. The Nuggets backcourt of Ty Lawson (20 points, 12 assists) and Afflalo (19 points) paced the Nuggets attack, with Lawson doing a lot of damage getting into the teeth of the defense and then kicking it out. At 9-6, the Bulls are still in a very good position given that they’ve been bit by the injury bug quite a bit to start off the season, but the truth of the matter is that the Bulls are going to have to proceed with caution regarding Gasol and Rose, and it is important to monitor their absences with regards for playoff seeding and home court advantage. Looking ahead, the Bulls get 3 days off before making a trip to Boston to face the Celtics, and then wrap up their road trip with a game against the Nets.

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