Blazed

After finding themselves down 21 points after one quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers last night, the Bulls failed to win even one of the remaining three periods, falling to 5-7.  The 116-74 final score was very telling of the utter dominance Portland displayed in the contest.  Andres Nocioni led the Bulls in scoring with just 12 points, coming on 5 of 13 shooting.  The Bulls, as a team, shot just 34 percent from the field.  Chicago’s lack of frontcourt depth, and talent for that matter, was a glaring weakness yet again, as Portland centers Greg Oden and Joel Pryzbilla dominated the glass.  In fact, Oden logged a double-double in just 17 minutes of play.

Every Bulls player struggled last night.  The team made just two of their 15 three point attempts and gave up what seemed like an endless amount of easy buckets to Portland players.  It’s abundantly clear that the team did not come to play tonight, because this club is capable of playing at a much higher level.  Their lack of post scoring makes it difficult to remain consistent on offense, because, as seen last night, if the team’s jumpers are not falling, there isn’t much the players can do to get buckets.

Get all your Chicago Bulls tickets at Stubhub.com.