Oak Park Journal Sports Page

March 28th 2011

“Los Bulls” Loose…Steam Rolled By 76ers 97-85

By Mark Rotor

The 1st place Chicago Bulls weren’t able to match the energy of a highly motivated Philadelphia 76’er team with their eyes on the playoffs as the Bulls came out flat and were steam rolled 97-85 at home. Chicago played as if they were stunned, down 27-13 at the end of the first quarter. The Bulls ice cold unable to buy a basket as Chicago shot a miserable 6 for 20. Meanwhile, Philly was red hot and went on a 13-1 run late in the quarter eventually building a 23 point lead. Forward, Thaddeus Young was an inside force scoring 17 of his 21 points for the 76ers in the first half. Andre Iguodala also contributed 19 points and former Bull, Elton Brand scored 13 points.

No Defense – No Win

“The past couple of games, in the 1st half, we have not played defense said,” Bulls Head Coach Tom Thibodeau. “We did the same thing tonight and the game was lost early. We had a 27-13 1st quarter, you can’t win like that.”

The 2nd half wasn’t much better for Chicago as Derrick Rose was the only bright spot shooting 12-24 (50%) scoring 31 points, 21 points in the 2nd half. However, it wasn’t enough overcome the Sixers as Chicago loss their 1st home game since January 2011. Philly’s defense forced 17 turnovers including 10 by Rose.

The Home Winning Streak Is Over

“We weren’t ready to play this one said,” Rose. “We came out sluggish. Put this one on me. We played like crap tonight. That’s how you lose in this league.”

With the loss, Chicago broke a 14 game home winning streak but was able to maintain a two game lead over the Celtics as Boston also loss Monday night to the Indiana Pacers 107-100.

Bulls Honor Hispanic community – “Los Bulls”

Tonight the Bulls team wore a specially designed red road uniforms with the branding “Los Bulls” on the front of the jersey to honor the Hispanic community by hosting Latin Night at the United Center. Latin Night festive entertainment included performances by: Mariachi Bands, Hispanic dance groups and player introductions announced in Spanish.