The Ticket Chest

Bulls Open Circus Road Trip With 116-109 Loss to Lakers

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 | Chicago Bulls, NBA, Sports | No Comments

Same story, different year. The circus comes to town and takes over the United Center for 2 weeks and the Chicago Bulls and Chicago Blackhawks are forced to hit the road. Entering last night’s game against the Lakers, the Bulls have a 6-52 record during the “Circus Road Trip” since the end of the Michael Jordan era. Last night, the losing trend stayed the same.

I give Del Negro and his staff credit for staying with the more talented Lakers through the game’s first 24 minutes. In a run and gun shootout, the Bulls stayed with the Lakers trailing only by 5 points at halftime. The devastating blow came in the 3rd quarter when the Lakers blew the game open with a 29-18 edge. Although the Bulls made a valiant effort to come back with a 35-point 4th quarter, it was too little too late.

The Bulls never found a consistent answer for the Lakers’ Big 3 – Pao Gasol scored 34 points and grabbed 6 rebounds; Kobe Bryant added 21 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists, and also had 3 steals and 2 blocked shots; and Andrew Bynum scored 18 points while leading the team in rebounds with 9.

On the Bulls side, the team shot only 43% from the field and failed to get any consistent offense beyond Derrick Rose (25 points, 3 rebounds and 9 assists) and Ben Gordon (23 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists). Aaron Gray was the only other play in double-digit scoring for the Bulls with 11 points. The numbers really didn’t translate into the final score, as the Bulls out-rebounded the Lakers 48-43 and took and made more free throws than the Lakers (24 of 29 versus 19 of 25). In any event, the 3rd quarter collapse signaled the end for the Bulls.

The Bulls play again tonight – at the Portland Trailblazers. It will match up the #1 overall picks in the past 2 NBA drafts – Greg Oden and Derrick Rose. The Trailblazers have gotten off to a 6-5 start, but are returning home from a 5-game, 8-day road trip in which the team went 3-2. Maybe the Bulls can catch the Trailblazers a little tired after the road trip, but the Trailblazers have yet to lose at home this young NBA season, so they will have their work cut out for them.

Tags: Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA

Oden Hurts Foot in 97-76 Loss To Lakers

Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 | NBA, Sports | No Comments

The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Portland Trailblazers 97-76 in the 2008-9 NBA season opener for each team in Los Angeles. Although star Kobe Bryant scored 23 points, along with 11 rebounds and 5 assists, all of the talk was about the injury suffered by the Trailblazers 7-foot center Greg Oden. Oden injured his right foot late in the 1st half and never returned to the game. X-rays were negative and Oden will undergo an MRI to assess the damage to the foot. Right now, Oden’s injury is diagnosed as a sprain, and nothing more than that.

Oden, the 1st overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft, never played a single game during the 2007-8 NBA season due to the discovery of an off-season injury to his right knee that required microfracture surgery. There was a lot of hype surrounding Oden’s first NBA game, especially since it was coming in L.A. and against the greatest player in the game today – Kobe Bryant. The excitement was short-lived. In his brief 12 minutes of play, Oden racked up 5 rebounds and blocked 1 shot, but he did not score a single point and he had already picked up 2 personal fouls.

The game was all but over after the 1st half. The Lakers had opened up a 15-point halftime lead and they cruised to a 21-point victory in the 2nd half. Pau Gasol had 15 points and 7 rebounds for the Lakers, while Center Andrew Bynum returned from an injury during the middle of last season to score 8 points and grab 3 rebounds. The Trailblazers had 3 players score in double figures – Brandon Roy, Travis Outlaw and Rudy Fernandez.

Tags: Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, Portland Trailblazers