Bulls Game No. 48: The good, the bad and the ugly from a double-overtime loss in LA

Playing at Staples Center for the first time as a Chicago Bull against his former club, forward Pau Gasol picked up his league-leading 29th double-double on Thursday night. Aside from Gasol’s 20/10 night at the office — and the game-tying tip-in at the end of regulation — the Bulls didn’t have much success in their trip to the City of Angels.

To put Thursday’s night double-overtime loss into words for the Chicago Bulls, you would have to dig deep into the dictionary to find the proper term for how awful the Bulls losing to a team that’s 21 games under .500.

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Oh, and that sub-.500 team is missing their legendary shooting guard for the season due to a torn rotator cuff.

The Bulls fell in not one, but two overtimes during the second part of TNT’s doubleheader on Thursday night (er, Friday morning on the East Coast) to the Los Angeles Lakers, 123-118. The loss came two days after the Bulls picked up their best win of the season against the Golden State Warriors in overtime on Tuesday night.

"“In this league, if one team’s playing with great intensity and the other one lets up just a slight bit, the players in this league are too good. You’re looking at guys that can score the ball. If you don’t come in with the right mindset against them, you’re in trouble.”-Tom Thibodeau on the Bulls’ effort, CSNChicago.com"

Thibodeau’s complaints about the Bulls giving a full effort were warranted, especially coming off a huge road win just two days prior.

How bad was it for the Bulls? They did not take the lead in the game … until 4:41 remaining in the first overtime.

Here’s a further look at the effort issues for the Bulls, along with some good, some bad and some ugly from a brutal loss:

“The Good”: Jimmy Butler and Joakim Noah had huge nights in Hollywood

Not only did Jimmy Butler tie his career-high of 35 points on the day he was announced as a reserve for the Eastern Conference in the 2015 NBA All-Star Game, last year’s defensive player of the year had his best game all season.

Butler scored 35 points on just 9-of-17 shooting, but drilled 16-of-18 from the free throw line and grabbed seven rebounds in the loss.

Along with Butler’s big bounce-back night, the second coming of Earvin “Magic” Johnson showed up at Staples on Thursday.

Joakim Noah was outstanding on Thursday, scoring nine points, grabbing 17(!) rebounds and dished out nine assists in his best game since last spring for the Bulls.

Noah had a jump in his step all night long on both ends and looked like the guy Bulls fans have been accustomed to seeing as the “heart and soul” of the Bulls roster.

“The Bad”: Derrick Rose is the not the same Derrick Rose

Sure, the 2011 NBA MVP appeared to be “back” after drilling the game-winner on Tuesday night.

But, let’s not forget Derrick Rose missed 20 of his 33 shot attempts and committed a career-high 11 turnovers in the OT victory over the Warriors.

Rose had another rough night on Thursday, shooting 7-for-26, including an absymal 1-for-7 from long range. To put it in simple terms: Rose is shooting just 33.3 percent in the last two games (20-60).

The turnovers were down, but so was the good shot selection and patience.

“The Ugly”: A loss to the Lakers

Plain and simple: Losing to this version of the Lakers is just pitiful, especially for a team that’s supposed to be competing for a championship.

The effort was poor all night long for the Bulls, trailing by double digits for most of the game.

Sure, playing a playoff-like battle two days before on the road would catch up to anyone, but this is the NBA. Challenges present themselves each and every day. The Bulls weren’t up to the challenge and “played down to their competition” yet again.

Next up for the Bulls (30-18): At Phoenix, 9:30 PM CT, ESPN doubleheader

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Next: Bulls Game No. 47: Derrick Rose's dagger ends Golden State's home win streak