Bulls Game No. 39: Five takeaways from a porous loss to Orlando

In what was likely the worst defensive performance for the Chicago Bulls on Monday night, the Bulls squandered 121 points in a loss to an Orlando Magic bunch who had lost six straight games prior to Monday’s meeting and came into the Windy City 14 games under the .500 mark.

Last Monday night, the Bulls picked up what was arguably their biggest and best overall victory of the season at home against the Houston Rockets.

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The Bulls made the “clutch plays” down the stretch of the game and Jimmy Butler held the NBA’s leading scorer, James Harden, to just 20 points on 22 shot attempts.

Fast-forward a week later and … the Bulls are giving up 121 points to one of the worst teams in the league on their home floor in their third loss since the big win over Houston on January 5th.

What happened on Monday night at the United Center that caused the Bulls to drop their third game in the last week?

Here’s five takeaways from Monday night’s loss:

1. Nikola Vucevic and Victor Oladipo could not be stopped

Casual NBA fans probably haven’t heard the name Nikola Vucevic much, but folks … this kid’s becoming an absolute nightmare for every team in the NBA.

Vucevic scored 33 points on 16-of-24 shooting, pulled down 11 rebounds and came extremely close to ending Pau Gasol’s life with a ferocious one-handed dunk in the second half.

“Vucci Mane” was a man possessed on Monday and so was running mate Victor Oladipo. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft dropped 33 points of his own on 11-of-17 shooting in the win for the Magic. With these two pieces, Orlando has some serious building blocks for the future.

2. Jimmy Butler’s recent struggles continued

The NBA’s front-runner for the Most Improved Player Award is going through a bit of a funk as of late. Jimmy Butler had another off-night with a 5-for-13 shooting performance and was a -6 on the night in the +/- category.

Not only did Butler struggle offensively, he and the Bulls couldn’t contain the surge from Oladipo and fellow backcourt mate Elfrid Payton on the defensive end. Payton scored 10 points and dished out seven assists in the win.

Are the heavy minutes starting to take a toll on Butler’s body as the season progresses?

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3. Reports of Derrick Rose’s demise for this season were purely fiction

So, maybe Derrick Rose just needed a night off, huh? After many reports swirled in about the potential issues with Rose’s left knee — the same knee that he tore his ACL during the 2012 playoffs — Rose returned to action on Monday after sitting out Saturday’s game.

In 30 minutes of action, Rose looked like his old self again with 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting and seven assists, including a couple “Oh my, Derrick” plays throughout the evening.

4. 2014-2015 Joakim Noah is not 2013-2014 Joakim Noah

One glaring issue with the Bulls’ march towards a title is the health of last year’s NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award winner.

Joakim Noah is clearly not himself.

In 31 minutes, Noah scored just six points on six field goal attempts, while pulling down seven rebounds and four assists.

Noah’s clearly laboring around the floor and it’s clearly that the All-NBA center from a season ago isn’t the same player right now.

(Makes you wonder if controversial Chicago Sun-Times columnist Joe Cowley was onto something before the season.)

5. Sure, the Bulls can score now … but can they stop anyone?

Since the 2010-2011 season — Tom Thibodeau’s first year in Chicago — the Bulls have possessed the league’s best defense every year.

Teams have dreaded playing Chicago for their ferocity on the defensive end on a nightly basis. However, this season’s been a different-looking Bulls team on defense.

One just has to ask, “How do you give up 121 points to a team that’s 14 games under .500?”

Sure, combinations are different than in the past with the arrivals of Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic, but the Bulls have been poor defensively, which is something rarely seen for a Thibodeau-led team.

The Bulls (26-13) move on to a rematch of a recent Friday night blowout against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night at home. Washington clobbered the Bulls last Friday, 102-86.

Tip-off from the United Center is scheduled for 7:00 PM CT (on ESPN’s “NBA Wednesday” doubleheader).

Next: Bulls Game No. 38: Pau Gasol has a night for the ages vs. Milwaukee