Kobe is a beast
The Chicago Bulls played the Los Angeles Lakers last night with something they have been missing for the last couple of weeks; heart and desire.
The Laker’s came away with the win, 96-87 but the Bulls come away with a morale victory. They lost because of a BEAST named Kobe Bryant. Chicago could look at Kobe as motivation. He was playing with a broken finger in a splint and still scored his season high of 42 points. On Saturday, he was given IV fluids because of a stomach problem.
Both teams scored 31 in the first quarter. Headed into the final quarter, the Bulls actually had a one point lead 73-72. Bryant began hitting fall-away jumpers and splitting the defense to get into the lane and held off with a 9 point victory.
It is safe to say, the Bulls lost this one because the Lakers have the arguably the best player in the game, not themselves. The past 12 games have not been that story. The Bulls are 2-8 in their last 10 games including a loss to the record setting New Jersey Nets. The record they set was for the worst start in history, 0-18. Also, in the past 10 games, Atlanta Hawks beat the Bulls by 35, Toronto Raptors by 32 and Boston Celtics won with a 26 point lead.
In an interview done by E
SPN, Joakim Noah stated his team didn’t get embarrased because they came to play.
“When you’re getting blown out by 30 points, how can you say we’re improving?” Noah said. “But I think tonight, we can look at ourselves and say we gave it everything we had and put ourselves in a situation to win the game and we just missed some open shots and some layups. I think if we bring that energy we should be happy with ourselves.”
To go off of what Noah said, the Bulls could be a mid-seeded playoff team if they played at this level every night. Each game they play is not against the defending NBA champions. The Lakers are half a game back of the best record in the league. Kobe is fighting for his second MVP award.
If the Bulls only lost to the Lakers by 9, with the competition flipped it would be a 9 point victory. But the Bulls have not been playing this way. They actually showed up, but why not against the Nets or Raptors. Nets had only won 1 game before beating the Bulls and the Raptors are around the same level as the Bulls in athletic ability.
hese are games Chicago would take if they played like they did against the Lakers. For the first time in a month, the Bulls looked in sync. Cutters got the passes on the move instead of stopping then catching. Shots were took in motion after ball movement instead of bad shot selection.
The Bulls grabbed 14 more rebounds then Los Angeles, dominating the offensive boards 22-to-6. Bulls also won in blocks 14-to-5 and tied with 9 steals.
Noah was a big key to the Bulls leading in those categories. He finished the game with 11 points, 20 rebounds and 6 blocks. Derrick Rose and Luol Deng scored 21 and Brad Miller chiiped in with 15.
I hope it wasn’t the old cliche of playing at the level of the competition. The Bulls can play and compete every night. They just need to keep the same intensity and poise against every opponent.
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