Streak Is Struck

As I predicted, the Bulls played well in the first half last night. Unfortunately, my expectation that the Sonics would recover to win in the second half proved to be sorely wrong.

In the good news department, Robert Swift returned from injury, and managed to can two baskets in limited action. In the bad news, Jeff Green continues to sit out, nursing his sore left ankle.

In an interesting twist, Earl Watson was benched for the entire fourth quarter in favor of Luke Ridnour, and that turned out to be the only quarter the Sonics didn't lose. Their combined stats of 21 points and 12 assists certainly looked good in the boxscore, though.

But the key to the game was twofold, really. 1) the Bulls killed the Sonics on the boards and 2) the Sonics did not come ready to play defense. When you give up 118 points to this Chicago team, you're not working as hard as you can, and that was plainly evident last night.