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It was another match up for the Chicago Bulls against a team that was under .500 and even though the Bulls lost to the Orlando Magic 98-91 the last time these two teams met on March 8th. This win was never really in doubt as the Bulls coasted to a 47 point 122-75 victory.

Aaron Gordon hit the first basket of the game to give Orlando a 2-0 lead and that was pretty much the bright side for the Magic. Believe it or not Orlando never led in the game again. The Bulls scored 12 straight points and 18 of the games next 20 points to take a 18-4 lead with 6:05 left in the quarter. The Magic managed just 13 points in the 1st quarter as the Bulls built what turned out to be an insurmountable 21 point lead 34-13 after just one quarter.

While Orlando did have a better offensive 2nd quarter scoring 24 points they where unable to match the Bulls who put up 30 points in the quarter. Orlando only managed to cut the Bulls lead to under 20 points one time in the 2nd quarter and it was very early on in the quarter. The Bulls where able to add six points to their lead as they went into halftime with a 64-37 advantage.

The 3rd quarter was another solid if not spectacular offensive output for the Magic. Orlando scored 22 points in the 3rd quarter and while that’s a decent number they Bulls scored 28 points to build on their lead. This was the only quarter in the game where the Bulls didn’t reach 30 points. Not a whole lot of drama left as the Bulls where able to push their lead up over 30 points. By the end of the 3rd quarter the Bulls had a 33 point lead 92-59.

The Magic didn’t do themselves any favors in the 4th quarter as their offense struggled again managing to score just 16 points. The big question for the Bulls would be if they would give their starters the quarter off and try to get them some rest. Chicago is tied for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but a lead like this gives them the chance to get their starters a quarter of rest before the final game of the regular season. While Dwayne Wade did play early in the quarter the rest of the Bulls starters where on the bench. Even with the starters sitting the Bulls added 14 points to their lead and easily cruised to a 122-75 win.

Robin Lopez was the games high scorer with 18 points. Lopez also led the Bulls in rebounding with 8. Jimmy Butler and Jerian Grant each had 17 points while Grant also handed out a game high 11 assists. Nikola Mirotic scored 16 points while Dwayne Wade added 13 points as all of the Bulls starters score in double figures. Off the Bulls bench Bobby Portis added 10 points.

Believe it or not the 75 points scored by the Magic wasn’t their lowest offensive output this season. Back in November they scored 69 points in a game against the Indiana Pacers.Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier each had 14 points to lead the Magic. Vucevic also grabbed a game high 10 rebounds. Elfrid Payton scored 11 points and handed out a team high 4 assists while Aaron Gordon added 10 points.

Chicago improves to 40-41 with the win. If the Bulls win their final regular season game Wednesday night at home against the 20-61 Brooklyn Nets they’ll be a playoff team. It looks as though the Bulls would be the 8th seed, but there is a chance they could move up to the 7th spot. Don’t forget that the Nets just beat the Bulls (107-106) in there last meeting on Saturday night. Orlando falls to 28-53 with the loss. The Magic will also wrap up their regular season on Wednesday night as they host the 37-44 Detroit Pistons.

With an eight point lead and just under six minutes to play it looked as though the Chicago Bulls where going to escape with a win over a sub .500 team. Which is still the biggest issue this team has had all season. The Brooklyn Nets had other ideas as they came back on the Bulls to pull out a 107-106 win Saturday afternoon at the Barclays Center.

Brooklyn scored six of the games first eight points before the Bulls came back to tie it at six all. The Nets went on a 19 to 4 run to build a lead of 15 points with 3:31 left in the quarter. It took the Bulls to the very end of the quarter to cut the Nets lead to under ten points. Chicago needed two Jimmy Butler 3-pointers sandwiched around a Brooklyn basket in the final :29 seconds to cut the Nets lead to seven points 32-25 after one quarter.

The 2nd quarter didn’t feature much offense as the teams combined to score 39 points with the Bulls outscoring the Nets 20-19. The Nets took a 14 point lead with 10:37 left to play in the quarter, but the Bulls managed to work that lead down to just three points with 6:24 left in the quarter. The Bulls where never able to tie the game or take the lead in the 2nd quarter and the Nets where able to push their lead back to six points 51-45 going into halftime.

Brooklyn pushed it’s lead to nine points early in the 3rd quarter at 55-46, but Chicago scored the games next nine point and tied the game 55 all with 7:35 left in the quarter. There where four ties before the Bulls could take the lead for good in the quarter at 66-65 with 4:54 left to play. Chicago built it’s lead to nine points, but the Nets got the final bucket of the quarter to make it a seven point game 82-75 heading into the 4th quarter.

Brooklyn cut the Bulls lead to four points very early in the 4th quarter, but Chicago held then off and built the lead back to seven points. Chicago managed to keep their lead right around that seven or eight point range and with a 97-88 lead with 4:24 left in the game it looked like the Bulls would end up with a win. Brooklyn scored the next 10 points to change that as they took a 98-97 lead with 2:21 left to play. Chicago took the lead back and pushed it to three points, but a Nets 3-pointer tied the game at 101 all. The teams traded baskets before Brooklyn was able to take a bit of control and take a four point lead at 107-103. A Jimmy Butler 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded made it a 107-106 game.

On a side note Butler was the only Bulls player to score in the final 4;24 of the game.

Caris LeVert and Spencer Dinwiddie (off the bench) tie for the Nets top scoring honors with 19 points apiece. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson posted a double-double with 16 points and a game high 12 rebounds. Brook Lopez scored 13 points while Jeremy Lin added 12 points and handed out a game high 7 assists.

Jimmy Butler was the games top scorer with 33 points. Robin Lopez had 16 points and a team high 8 rebounds. Jerian Grant added 15 points and handed out a team high 5 assists while the returning Dwayne Wade scored 14 points in 25 minutes of game action.

The win was Brooklyn’s 20th making them 20-60 on the season. The Nets get a day off before they travel to Boston to face the 50-29 Celtics on Monday night. The Bulls drop to 39-41 with the loss. Chicago will also get a day off as they return home to face the 28-51 Orlando on Magic Monday night.

If you’re a Chicago Bulls fans you know that Thursday nights game are the type of games that have been giving the Bulls trouble all season. For some reason the Bulls struggle against teams under .500 and on Tuesday night they where beaten easily by the sub-.500 New York Knicks and in their last game against the Philadelphia 76ers the 76ers won easily 117-107. This time none of those Bulls issues came up as they look to lock down an Eastern Conference playoff spot with a 102-90 win over Philadelphia.

There where a couple of ties early in the 1sy quarter before the Bulls where able to take a bit of a lead. Chicago built a five point lead on two occasions , but Philadelphia was able to come back and cut the lead to one point with 5:03 left in the quarter. An 8 to 3 run pushed the Bulls lead to six points, but again the 76ers fought back cutting the lead to two points with 2:34 left in the quarter. Philadelphia didn’t score the rest of the 1st quarter as the Bulls finished on an 8 to 0 run to take a 27-17 lead after one quarter.

The teams traded baskets early in the 2nd quarter, but the Bulls did manage to add four points to their lead and with 8:11 left in the quarter Chicago was ahead 40-26. Philadelphia went on a 17 to 7 run to cut the Bulls lead to four points 47-43 with 2:49 left in the quarter. The Bulls did manage to add a couple of points to their lead before halftime as they went into the locker room with a 53-47 lead.

The Bulls really established their lead in the 3rd quarter. Right from the start the Bulls scored 7 of the first 10 points to push the lead into double digits at 60-50 with 10:27 left in the quarter. Philadelphia was only able to knock the lead under double digits three times in the quarter and the Bulls led at one time by 16 points. At the end of the quarter Chicago added seven points to it’s halftime lead as they took a 13 point lead 80-67 heading into the final quarter.

Philadelphia was never able to get closer than 10 points. With 7:52 left in the game Chicago was ahead 84-74, but the 76ers where never able to get the lead under double digits and even though they did outscored the Bulls in the final quarter (23-22) it didn’t make enough of a difference as Chicago was able to cruise to a 102-90 victory.

Nikola Mirotic led all scorers with 22 points for the Bulls while Jimmy Butler posted a triple-double with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Butler assists total was a game high. Jerain Grant scored 15 points while Joffrey Lauvergne added 14 points off the bench. Bobby Portis also came off the Bulls bench to post a double-double with 12 points and a game high 11 rebounds.

Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot was the 76ers leading scorer with 18 points. Justin Anderson added 17 points while Richaun Holmes added 10 points and tied for the team lead in rebounds with 10. Nik Stauskas added 13 points off of the 76ers bench. T.J. McConnell led the 76ers in assists with 8 assists while Dario Saric tied for the team lead in rebounds with 10.

With the win the Bulls improve to 39-40 on the season and they are still holding onto 7th place in the Eastern Conference. Chicago gets a day off before they face the team with the worst record in the NBA; the 19-60 Brooklyn Nets in Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon. Philadelphia falls to 28-51 with the loss. The 76ers also get a day off before they host the 40-39 Milwaukee Bucks Saturday night.

The Chicago Bulls four game winning streak came to a screeching halt last night in a manner you’d expect as they dropped a 100-91 decision to the New York Knicks. If you’ve spent any time watching the Bulls this season this is exactly the type of game they have lost. The Knicks have been eliminated from the eastern Conference playoffs race and where 19 games under .500 coming into this game. Add all that up and they had no trouble at all ending the Bulls winning streak.

The 1st quarter was played pretty evenly as there where six ties between the two teams in the quarter. The biggest lead either team had in the quarter was five points. New York had two five point leads in the quarter at 19-14 and the other at the end of the 1st quarter at 29-24. The biggest lead the Bulls could build in the quarter was four points and that was very early in the game when they where ahead 8-4.

The Knicks immediately built their lead to 17 points in the 2nd quarter. New York went on a 15 to 3 run to start the quarter and take a 44-27 lead. Shortly after their run the Knicks lead reached 20 points at 49-29 with 3:42 left to play. The Bulls spent the rest of the quarter trying to cut into the Knicks lead. The Bulls did knock six points off of the New York lead as they went in at halftime down 14 points 54-40.

The quarter started off pretty even with the Knicks holding their 14 point lead at 60-46 with 8:06 left in the quarter. The Knicks then scored the next nine points in the game and took a 23 point lead at 69-46 with 6:03 left to play. The Knicks where able to keep their lead at 20 points 76-56 with 2:14 left in the quarter. Chicago finished the quarter on a 8 to 4 run to get the Knicks lead down to 16 points at 80-64.

With the outcome of the game pretty much determined the Bulls had their best offensive quarter of the game scoring 27 points. It was the only quarter in this game where the Bulls actually outscored the Knicks. New York scored 20 points in the 4th quarter. The closest the Bulls got was with :07 seconds left in the game at 98-91, but the Knicks scored the final two points of the game to get it to it’s final of 100-91.

Carmelo Anthony was the Knicks leading scorer with 23 points. Courtney Lee had 14 points while Maurice Ndour added 13 points and tied for the game high in rebounds with 12. Coming off the Knicks bench Justin Holiday scored 12 points while Mindaugas Kuzminskas added 11 points. Kyle O’Quinn also grabbed 12 rebounds to tie Ndour for the game lead in rebounds.

Jimmy Butler was the games high scorer with 26 points. Nikola Mirotic added 21 points and grabbed a team high 10 rebounds. Robin Lopez added 11 points and Anthony Morrow came off the Bulls bench to contribute 15 points. Rajon Rondo handed out a game high 9 assists for the Bulls.

Chicago drops to 38-40 with the loss, but they are still holding onto 7th place in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls get a day off before they head to Philadelphia to face the 28-50 76ers on Thursday night. The win makes the Knicks 30-48 on the season. New York also gets a day off before they host the 47-31 Washington Wizards Thursday night.

The Chicago Bulls picked up their 5th win in a row Sunday afternoon with a 117-110 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. The Bulls have also won six of their last seven games and what might be even more impressive they won back to back games on the road. That’s one of the tougher things to do in the NBA.

Chicago scored six of the games first eight points, but New Orleans quickly came right back to tie the game at six all. The Bulls then went on an 11 to 2 to take a 17-8 lead with 5:50 left in the quarter. The Bulls where never able to push their lead into double digits and when Solomon Hill hit a lay up the Pelicans where within two at 23-21. The Bulls scored the final five points of the quarter to take a 28-21 lead after one quarter of play.

The Bulls started the 2nd quarter by scoring the first seven points and pushing their lead to 14 points 35-21. The closest the Pelicans could was five points at 45-40 with 5:05 left to play. The Bulls then scored 11 straight points to take a 16 point lead at 56-40. New Orleans was unable to cut down the Bulls lead and they needed a 3-pointer by Dante Cunningham just to bring the lead back down to 16 points (63-47) headed into halftime.

The 3rd quarter was the Pelicans best quarter of the game, but the Bulls did get out to a 19 point lead at 74-55 before New Orleans started to cut into it. The Pelicans spent the majority of the quarter trying to get the Bulls lead under 10 points and when former Bull E’Twaun Moore hit two free throws with 3:34 left in the quarter New Orleans was down eight points at 79-71. The Bulls did push their lead back into double digits on two occasions, but DeMarcus Cousins hit two free throws for the last two points of the quarter to make it an eight point game again 87-79 heading into the 4th.

Now Chicago has had issues all season beating teams with under .500 records, but when Bobby Portis hit a 3-pointer to give the Bulls a 19 point lead 100-81 with 8:36 left to play; this didn’t look like one of those games. First New Orleans went on a 10 to 2 run to cut the Bulls lead to 11 at 102-91 with 6:52 left to play. The Bulls built the lead back to 14 points with 4:43 left to play and it was looking like they might cruise to a victory. Not so fast; New Orleans went on a 16 to 7 run to make it a five point game with just :15 seconds left to play. Chicago added a couple of free throws to seal a victory 117-110 that ended up much closer than it looked to be.

Jimmy Butler was the games high scorer with 39 points while Rajon Rondo was the only other Bulls starter to reach double figures with 10 points. Rondo also handed out a game high 9 assists. Luckily for the Bulls Bobby Portis came in off the bench to score 21 points and grab a team high 11 rebounds. Joffrey Lauvergne also scored in double digits off the Bulls bench getting 15 points.

Anthony Davis was the Pelicans top scorer and posted a double-double. Davis had 30 points and 11 rebounds. DeMarcus Cousins also had a double-double for New Orleans with 26 points and a game high 18 rebounds. Jrue Holiday had 17 points and a team high 6 assists while Jordan Crawford came off the New Orleans bench to add 15 points.

With the win the Bulls improve to 38-39. Chicago will get a day off before they play their second of four consecutive roads games. The Bulls travel to New York to take on the 29-48 Knicks on Tuesday night. The Loss drops New Orleans record to 33-44 on the season. The Pelicans will also get a day off before they host the 36-40 Denver Nuggets Tuesday night.

Jimmy Butler scored the final four points of the game including hitting two free throws with just :02 seconds left to give the Chicago Bulls a 106-104 win over the Atlanta Hawks. It was the Bulls 3rd win in a row and 4th in their last 5 games. The win also catapulted the Bulls into 7th place in the Eastern Conference.

Chicago took the lead in the 1st quarter and built a seven point lead at 17-10 on a Rajon Rondo lay up with 6:5 left in the quarter. Atlanta then went on a 9 to 2 run to tie the game at 19 all with 2:44 left to play. The Bulls did score four of the final six points of the quarter to take a 23-21 lead after one quarter.

While the Bulls where able to hold onto the lead for the entire 2nd quarter they cold never really get to big of a lead on Atlanta. The Biggest lead the Bulls could build was eight points at 52-44 very late in the quarter when Rajon Rondo scored with just :26 seconds left. Dwight Howard got a tip in for the Hawks just before the buzzer to make it a 52-46 game going into halftime.

The Bulls where able to push their lead to double digits twice in the 3rd quarter the last time was 9:17 left to play at 61-51. The Hawks then came back with a 21 to 10 run to take the lead at 72-71 with 2:47 lead in the quarter. There where five lead changes and three ties down the stretch of the 3rd quarter before Atlanta was able to take a five point lead 84-79 heading into the 4th quarter.

Atlanta scored the first five points of the 4th quarter to make their lead 10 points at 89-79. It took the Bulls almost the rest of the quarter to cut into the Atlanta lead and then when  Jimmy Butler hit a 3-pointer with 1:59 left to play the game was tied at 102. Dennis Schroder gave the Hawks the lead back at 104-102 when he hit a short jumper, but Butler evened the game again when he scored on a lay up with :32 seconds left. After an Atlanta time out Schroder lost the basketball out of bounds with :25 seconds left. As the Bulls where looking for the last shot Kent Bazemore fouled Butler with just :02 seconds left to play. Butler went to the line and made both free throw giving the Bulls a 106-104 lead and when Tim Hardaway Jr’s 3-point attempt missed the Bulls as time expired the Bulls had their 3rd win in a row and where back in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Jimmy Butler was the games high scorer with 33 points. Butler also handed out more assists than anyone else with 8. Rajon Rondo had 25 points and a team high 11 rebounds. Paul Zipser added 10 points while Denzel Valentine came off the Chicago bench to score 13 points.

Dennis Schroder was Atlanta’s top scorer with 29 points and he also handed out a team high 6 assists. Tim Hardaway Jr had 20 points while Dwight Howard and Ersan Ilyasova had had 13 points. Howard also grabbed a game high 12 rebounds.

Chicago improved to 37-39 on the season with the win and they’ll turn right around and try to keep their winning streak going as they head to New Orleans to face the 33-43 Pelicans at 5:00 p.m. c.s.t. Sunday. Atlanta is 39-37 after the loss and this was the first of back to back games for Atlanta as well. The Hawks travel to Brooklyn to face the team with the worst record in the NBA the 17-59 Nets Sunday afternoon.

The Chicago Bulls kept their winning streak when they play a nationally televised game on TNT going with a 99-93 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. This is the 20th straight game that the Bulls have won when they’ve been shown on TNT.

As for the Cavaliers I’m sure they just want this month to end. The Cavaliers are 6-10 in the month of March. This was also the Cavaliers 3rd loss in a row and they are 4-6 in their last 10 games.

The Bulls got off to a quick start taking a six point lead by scoring eight of the games first 10 points. Chicago added a point to the lead at 11-4 before Cleveland went on a 12 to 3 run to take a 16-14 lead. From there the teams traded the lead five times and the game was tied twice before the Cavaliers where able to the final six points of the quarter to take a 28-22 lead after one quarter.

Kevin Love gave the Cavaliers a double digit lead at 34-24 early in the 2nd quarter when he hit a jumper with 10:52 left to play. Chicago was ale to cut the lead back into single digits, but the closest they could get in the quarter was four points at 38-34 with 6:46 left to play. Cleveland added five points to their lead before halftime and they went into the half ahead 50-41.

Cleveland got their double digit lead back when Kyrie Irving hit a 3-pointer with 9:57 left in the 3rd quarter to put the Cavaliers up 55-45. Chicago then went on a 12 to 2 run to tie the game at 57 all. The score was tied one more time and the teams traded the lead three times before Cleveland built a six point lead with 4:13 left in the quarter. The Bulls finished the quarter on an 18 to 5 run to take a 78-71 lead going into the final quarter.

The Cavaliers where able to cut the Bulls lead to two points early in the 4th quarter, but the Bulls where able to push the lead back to 10 points at 88-78 with 6:48 left to play when Jimmy Butler hit a 3-pointer. The Cavaliers did cut the lead to five points with 1:02 left in the game, but that was as close as they could get as the Bulls where able to retain their lead and pick up a 99-93 victory.

Nikola Mirotic was the games top scorer with 28 points. Mirotic also grabbed 10 rebounds. Jimmy Butler added 25 points while Robin Lopez scored 10 points and grabbed a game high 11 rebounds. Denzel Valentine was the only Bulls bench player to reach double figures with 12 points. Rajon Rondo also handed out a game high 15 assists for the Bulls.

LeBron James posted a double-double as he scored 26 points; tied for his teams lead in rebounds with 10 and also handed out a team high 8 assists. Kyrie Irving added 20 points while Tristan Thompson (15 points) and J.R. Smith (12 points) both reached double figures. Kevin Love grabbed 10 rebounds to tie for the team lead.

The Bulls improved to 36-39 with the win, but are still a game out of the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Chicago has won three of their last four games and have won the last two in a row. The Bulls get a day off before they host the 39-36 Atlanta Hawks on Saturday afternoon. The loss keeps the Cavaliers 1/2 game out of the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Believe it or not the Cavaliers bad month isn’t over as they have to face the 28-47 Philadelphia 76ers tonight in Cleveland.

On a side note the Bulls are 4-0 against the Cavaliers this season.