With tonight’s 108-99 victory over the Detroit Pistons, the Chicago Bulls completed their second series sweep of the season. Woohoo.
Once the Bulls settled in, the game was completely on their side. In fact, things were going so well even Luke Kornet scored a very unexpected 12 points in the first half. The offense was clicking, the Bulls were in a rhythm, and they walked into halftime with a 61-49 lead. Another solid first-half performance.
Then, the second-half struggles hit right on que.
As the third quarter went on, the Bulls began to crumble. A shimmer of hope for a blowout victory came around the 11-minute mark though, when the Pistons best player not named Derrick Rose got ejected for throwing the ball at Daniel Gafford’s head.
Yes, Andre Drummond was so salty Gafford scored right over him, he plunked the ball right off his noggin.
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) January 12, 2020
The Bulls should have run away with the game from this point on, but the ejection lit a candle under the Pistons butt and they ended up winning the quarter 22-20.
Up only 10 heading into the 4th quarter, the Bulls fooled around with blowing the game, but thanks to some clutch buckets by Lauri Markkanen, Chicago left Detroit with a win and snapped their six-game losing streak.
A win to be proud of? No. A win. Yes.
Not to be a downer (I prefer realist) but…
10 of the Bulls' 14 wins have come against the Pistons, Hawks and Grizzlies.
They're 4-26 against the rest of the NBA.
— Matt Peck (@Bulls_Peck) January 12, 2020
The Bulls have yet to post an impressive victory this season (maybe the Clippers?), but series sweeps over the Hawks and Pistons continue to show us the Bulls haven’t hit rock bottom just yet.
Up next, the hard January schedule continues as the Bulls take on the Celtics Monday night.