It takes some real pluck to lose to the Nets. But hey, how about Luol Deng: Point Guard? The South Sudanese forward had back-to-back double-digit assist games this week.
The Chicago Bulls got Derrick Rose back in the lineup on Monday afternoon and bounced back from the Nets loss to defeat the Atlanta Hawks. Chicago will host Milwaukee on Wednesday in its last game before the 2012 All-Star break.
The Bulls lost to the Heat back on Jan. 29 by four points, but they have a better record than Miami, and they've achieved that despite a lot of injury setbacks in the early part of the season.
Chicago's lengthy road trip continues in New Jersey on Monday night.
The latest power rankings from SB Nation's Tom Ziller have been released, and the Chicago Bulls have claimed the top spot after a 3-1 week. The Bulls have the best record in the NBA, and they were first to 20 wins. Ziller is impressed by the improvement the team has shown this season:
The Bulls have somehow been better than they were last year. Derrick Rose too has improved. This was not supposed to be possible! However, if there's a dark cloud on the horizon, it's that Chicago has already lost to Miami, the team that killed the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals last year.
It's also impressive considering all of the injury problems that Chicago has endured up to this point. That issue may be one thing that makes the loss to Miami a little less troublesome.
With a .773 winning percentage, the Bulls still lead the Eastern Conference, but despite having one more win than the Oklahoma City Thunder (16-3), the Thunder's .842 winning percentage ranks top in the NBA. Ziller's power rankings reflect these peculiarities, ranking the Thunder tops for this week:
The Thunder haven't allowed dominance to get boring; that awful loss to the Wizards was a one-time slip, not an indication OKC would sleep-walk through the the regular season.
A 4-0 week for the Heat and a great win over the Bulls lands Miami as our best Eastern team at this point. But they couldn't knock the Thunder out of the top spot.
That the Bulls near knocked off Miami without Luol Deng, with LeBron James on his game and with Carlos Boozer getting Boshed is a testament to how flippin' good the Bulls are.
You can't understate the Clippers' huge win in Denver on Sunday. While the L.A. offense looked discombobulated late against the Lakers this week, Chris Paul showed that he's the smartest player in the league with the ball in his hands in Denver.
The Nuggets continue to hang above the fray in the West, earning wins away from Denver in the process. This will be a very tough out in the playoffs, based on how things look now.
The Bulls' extended road trip continues in February where they with square off against the Philadelphia 76ers (14-6) and the New York Knicks (7-13) in back-to-back games on Feb. 1 and 2.
The Chicago Bulls hold the best record in the NBA, so it may not be a surprise that they come in at No. 1 in the most recent edition of Tom Ziller's NBA Power Rankings. But it's still a bit of a feat, considering nearly half of the Bulls' roster is currently out with an injury, including reigning MVP Derrick Rose. But neither Rose's absence, or those of Joakim Noah or Taj Gibson, really derailed the Bulls last week, as the team picked up three victories while only dropping one game.
Even without Derrick Rose, the Bulls are blowing out most opponents. Luol Deng has been a monster, and deserve serious All-Star consideration in the forward-heavy East.
Here's Ziller's take on the Bulls:
The Bulls will face the New Jersey Nets, Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks this week before a highly anticipated showdown on Sunday with the Miami Heat.
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