Painful Game (and Postgame) for Bulls vs. Thunder

December 20, 2013 @ admin → No Comments

The Oklahoma City Thunder was undefeated at home before the Chicago Bulls visited Thursday night. The Bulls did not have Luol Deng, who sat out because of an Achilles injury. Kirk Hinrich did not play because of a back injury. Derrick Rose is out for the season with a knee injury. And then Jimmy Butler went to the sidelines with an ankle injury. Incredibly, the Bulls lost. OK, maybe not incredibly. They lost 107-95. Incredibly (or perhaps because of good game management by the Thunder), the score wasn’t more lopsided. Something says even with all the Bulls healthy, Oklahoma City would have improved to 13-0 at home.

Oh, Canada. Oh, Khloe Terae. Need we say more? Credit: Ryan Astamendi

* Adding insult to all the Bulls injuries, Thunder center Kendrick Perkins took exception to Bulls center Joakim Noah’s stopping by the Oklahoma City locker room after the game to see former teammate Thabo Sefolosha. “Get your ass up outta here,” Perkins said to Noah. Maybe being outplayed by Noah (23 points, 12 rebouds) had Perkins (zero points, four rebounds) in a bad mood, despite the game’s result.

* If there is an upside to all the Bulls injuries (other than the possibility of being a lottery team in the NBA draft), it is the experience some young players are receiving. Rookie Tony Snell, for instance, played 41 minutes against the Thunder. He looks like he could have a shot at being a reasonably decent NBA player (although you might not know it from his shooting — 2-for-11 on three-pointers and 4-for-15 overall vs. the Thunder).

* Deng said he hopes to be able to play by Christmas (the Bulls have a Dec. 25 game at Brooklyn). The challenge for the Bulls (9-16) is to reach 10 victories before they reach 20 defeats. Of course, with five games left in 2013, they could reach both numbers. If the Bulls can’t defeat Cleveland (9-14) at the United Center on Saturday, their next-best chance for a victory just might be Dec. 31 at home against Toronto (9-15). Which must explain why we are running a photo of Playboy’s Khloe Terae in a Canadian-themed bikini (plus she is in a brief video below). Not that we actually have to justify things around here, mind you.

* Speaking of injuries, Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant is going to be out about six weeks with a fracture in his left knee. Bryant, 35, recently returned from a torn Achilles tendon suffered in April and signed a two-year, $48.5 million contract extension before he returned to the court this season. Things could always be worse, Bulls fans. And now you can argue who is more important to his team: Bryant or Rose. And a reminder: Bryant actually has won NBA championships (though not all by himself).

* Guard D.J. Augustin has played reasonably well in his short Bulls tenure. Now all the Bulls need to do is to find comparable frontcourt talent available at a team-friendly price so fans can delude themselves into thinking the team still could make the playoffs this season.

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Thank you to Jennifer Runyon and Rickey Williams for appearing on “Sports & Torts.”

If it’s Friday, then that means there should be another edition of “Sports & Torts” in the Talkzone.com archives to be preserved for posterity. And indeed that is so for the interview show co-hosted by David Spada and Elliott Harris on Thursdays at noon Central time. The Dec. 19, 2013, guests were actrees Jennifer Runyon and Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Rickey Jackson. You may remember Jackson from his days starring for the New Orleans Saints. You may remember Runyon from “Charles in Charge,” “A Very Brady Christsmas,” “Another World” (one of my all-time favorite soap operas), “Ghostbusters” and numerous other roles.

It was another quality effort, thanks in no small part to the guests. For those who were unable to tune in and/or for those who are looking to enjoy an encore performance, you can access the program by clicking here.

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Here is where to go for a daily dose of non-gratuitous video (thanks to the enlightening efforts of the editorial and video departments at ElliottHarris.com). At this time of year, we might even offer up a holiday tune or two from time to time: