On Sunday, April 1, the Chicago Bulls met their match but failed to show up, losing 92-78 to the Oklahoma City Thunder. A loss is never good but at least it was against a good team.
In fact, the Thunder are a very good team and with Sunday's victory, they now have a 40-12 record and a playoff berth. But perhaps more importantly, the Chicago Bulls may have met their greatest challenge in their journey to the Championship.
Sunday was a wakeup call and there are two takeaways from the loss.
The Bulls Need Derrick Rose
The team needs Rose back in the lineup even though they have continued winning without him. Sunday's game was the 10th one without Rose and he said in a TV interview that he hopes to be back next week. He sounded less positive in an ESPN interview.
What the Bulls are lacking without Rose is offense, plays and leadership on the floor. For Sunday's game, the team's leading scorer was John Lucas with 19 points. He's had a great run lately but well, he's not a starter.
Of the Bulls' 78 points against the Thunder, half (39 points) came from the Bench Mob. While one of their greatest strengths is depth, don't you wonder where the starters were on Sunday both offensively and defensively by allowing 92 points to the Thunder?
They were moping on the sidelines.
The Bulls Need to Mentally Check In
Watching the Thunder roll over them on Sunday was deflating for the Bulls and for the fans. By the third quarter when the Bulls went on a three-minute plus cold spell, you knew it was not their day and a fourth quarter rally wouldn't happen.
On Sunday, Kevin Durant (26 points) and Russell Westbrook (27 points) were the Rose and Luol Deng of the Thunder. They wanted the win more but what made matters worse was watching the Bulls' faces on the bench.
They looked miserable and they looked like they had given up, especially Joakim Noah. Perhaps he was thinking about his poor performance: he scored five points with three rebounds. He said of the game, "It was disappointing just because they kicked our ass. That hasn't happened to us in a long time."
It was one of those games that everyone just wanted it to end but do you really want to see the players looking like they were thinking the same thing?
Thibodeau picked up on the negative vibe and said, "Derrick's a great player. Obviously, we prefer to have him. But we have more than enough. I was more concerned tonight with the mental aspect. I thought we made a lot of mental mistakes."
So what's next for the Bulls? They return home and play the Houston Rockets on Monday, April 2.There's a slight possibility Rip Hamilton will hit the floor. Maybe he's the spark the team needs or maybe the home crowd will wake this team up.
As a lifelong Bulls fan and Chicago resident, the Derrick Rose era has been a good one.
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