first humble pie eaten in the PatBev era
Just when I was ready to believe…wait, no: I was never going to believe the Bulls were suddenly good. Just that they were average like their talent suggested.
Tonight at home the Sixers made them look far worse than that. Philadelphia quickly enacted revenge on the Bulls after losing to them a couple nights prior. They started the game quickly jumping out to a 17-0 lead, led by 28 at half, and coasted the rest of the way for what was ultimately a 116-91 final score.
Sixers star Joel Embiid didn’t even come out to start the 2nd half, using the time to rest a sore calf.
Worryingly, DeMar DeRozan also exited this game but under much different circumstances. DeRozan looked to re-injury the quad strain that has bothered him for much of the calendar year. Recall that the Bulls have played multiple double-overtime games lately and DDR has racked up heavy minutes.
On the bright side, Alex Caruso was out for this game so that starting lineup +/- data remains pristine.
So this was all a bit humiliating, but the Bulls were due for that. They hadn’t had one since Patrick Beverley joined the team. The 10th seed is still all but locked up, Bulls can throw out the tape and head out west where they have a 3 game road trip against the Blazers, Lakers, and Clippers.