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NBA - Bulls embark on a long, treacherous road trip By Carroll L. Bruton Jr. PhilBoxing.com Wed, 14 Nov 2012 CHICAGO -- After a five-game home stand at the friendly confines of the United Center, where they won just two and dropped three for an overall won-lost record of 4-3, the Chicago Bulls head off to a five-game road trip fraught with danger. It's the annual Circus Trip, when the Bulls go on the road for two weeks while the circus occupies the United Center. The first stop is Phoenix on Wednesday night against a surprising Suns team that is thriving despite the offseason departure of its longtime point guard Steve Nash, who spurned more money to chase a championship ring with the Los Angeles Lakers. The 4-4 Suns get their spark from Gorthan Dragic, Luis Scola, Shannon Brown, Michael Beasly and Marcin Gortat. And while the Suns defense needs a lot of improvement, surrendering 103 a game, Phoneix's 98.1 points a game average could also give the Bulls defense fits. Three nights after squaring off with the Suns at the US Airways Center, the Bulls travel to Staples Center for a date with the Los Angeles Clippers, who pack a lethal punch behind the firepower of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, plus a superbly talented support cast led by ex-Bulls Jamal Crawford and former Detroit Piston Grant Hill. This is where the trip gets tricky, because after the L.A. swing on November 17, the Bulls travel to Portland the following night for a punishing back-to-back stint that culminates with a showdown against the surigng Portland Trail Blazers at the Rose Garden. Portland's disappointing 2-5 start, however, clearly does not reflect the talent the squad has. In LaMarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum, the Blazers both have length and scoring capacity that could create match-up problems for Chicago. The Blazers are young, quick and athletic. And without Derrick Rose (torn ACL) and Kirk Hinrich (sore hip), the Bulls are particularly thin at the guards position. And that could cause serious complications. And it doesn't get any better for the Bulls After Portland, the Bulls take a two-day breather and wrestle with the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center on Nov. 21. After a rousing 2-0 start, the Rockets have cooled off a bit and fell to 3-4. But this retooled quintet boasts of a talent pool headed by reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year James Harden, ex-Bulls center Omer Asik, and former New York Knickerbocker Jeremy Lin, whose sizzling "Linsanity" exploits shook the NBA last summer. Harden is averaging 25.9 points a game. Lin whips 6.4 assists per while Asik pulls down 13 rebounds and blocks 1.14 enemy shots a contest. This dynamic trio is definitely a force to contend with especially on their homefloor. The away from home journey mercifully ends with a stop at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee against the young Bucks on November 24. Milwaukee is by no means easy pickings for the Bulls. Not when the point guard-shooting guard combo of Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis are lighting up the scoreboard for a combined 37.7 points a game. The 4-2 Bucks also rely on Mike Dunleavy Jr., who chips in 12.3 a game and Larry Sanders, who contributes 10.3 points an outing. Five straight road games don't define a season. But it might just show what these Bulls are made of. (Carroll L. Bruton Jr) Click here to view a list of other articles written by Carroll L. Bruton Jr..  |
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