I got home last night, made myself a nice jalapeño / pepperoni pizza, cause that’s how I roll, and then sat down to watch some tube. There was a show on Sy-Fy that was almost, but not quite, comprehensible. There was a dragon, or it may have been a starship, but whatever it may or may not have been it was clear there were no decent breasts in it so I changed the channel. I wandered around from channel to channel when I happened upon the Bulls game. It was early in the second quarter so I settled in to watch.
It was at this moment that my cats finally noticed the pizza and decided they had to have some too. If that meant that they had to claw their way across my chest and face, well, that was a price they were willing to pay. So, in an effort to not look like a reject from a horror movie, I cut up a slice into tiny bits and put it on a plate for them.
That satisfied them and allowed me to enjoy the game. Wound free.
The game, if I may use that term, was kind of like watching the Globetrotters play the Senators. After a while it became kind of silly. The Bulls looked like they were going to practice their full court shots and behind the back dunks by the third quarter. HERB GOULD at the Sun Times saw the same game I did and is willing share his point of view.
The Bulls added a few more degrees of separation Monday night between themselves and every Bulls team since 1997-98, when the club claimed the last of its six NBA titles.
In crowning the Sacramento Kings 132-92 at the United Center, they celebrated the return of forward Carlos Boozer by notching their 50th victory and winning their 13th straight home game.
‘‘That’s what we expected,’’ Boozer said. ‘‘I’m used to being on 50-win teams. We didn’t come here to win 50 games. We came here for much higher goals. We’re taking it step by step, but that’s definitely a good step in the right direction.’’
Guard Derrick Rose knows what followed the last time the Bulls won 50 games, when Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were still in town.
‘‘A championship,’’ he said. ‘‘But we’re not worried about that. Of course we want to win it, but there’s still a long way to go. We’re taking it one game at a time.’’
Rose finished with 18 points and eight assists and treated the crowd to some MVP-worthy dunks along with his usual gravity-defying drives. And he’s having a great time.
‘‘It’s fun, man,’’ he said. ‘‘I can’t complain about anything right now. We’re winning games, playing good basketball. The city is going crazy. We have great fans in every arena we play in. We’re loving it right now.’’
The 132 points were a season high, eclipsing the Bulls’ output in a 123-115 victory at Phoenix on Nov. 24. And that was in double overtime. Their 70.6 percent three-point shooting (12-for-17) also was a season high.
‘‘They have legitimate championship aspirations,’’ Sacramento coach Paul Westphal said. ‘‘They’re in the conversation with four or five other teams.’’
Along with history, the Bulls are also staying up on current events. They remained tied for first in their Eastern Conference race with the Boston Celtics, who rallied to beat the host New York Knicks 96-86.
The 13-game home winning streak is the Bulls’ longest since they won 17 in a row from Nov. 14, 1997, to Jan. 21, 1998. They finished 62-20 in that regular season.
Playing for the first time in six games since he sprained his left ankle March 9 at Charlotte, Boozer looked sharp. He scored 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting and had five rebounds and four assists.
‘‘I couldn’t do too much on my ankle, but I felt good,’’ Boozer said. ‘‘I just played off of my teammates. When you have a lot of good players around you, all you have to do is play off of them and take what’s there.’’
That said, Boozer pronounced his ankle good enough to go.
‘‘It felt good,’’ he said. ‘‘I was happy with how strong it was throughout the game. I was also happy to get a lot of rest in the fourth quarter, to get ready for tomorrow.’’
Eight Bulls scored in double figures as Tom Thibodeau rested his starters in this blowout.
And while Boozer did a fine job of jumping back into step with his teammates, this was another all-around team effort. All five starters were in double figures midway through the third quarter. And eight Bulls finished with at least 10 points, including Kyle Korver, who had 18 points on 4-for-5 three-point shooting.
‘‘Coach tells us, ‘Don’t fall in love with the three,’ ’’ Rose said. ‘‘But sometimes we’re just wide open. We have to take those shots.’’
Everything, it seems, is going in for the Bulls these days.
At one point I began cheering for the Bulls to try trick shots. They’re too classy for that, but a half court sky hook would have been fun.
Even so, every fan got a coupon for a free Big Mac last night so they left happy. Although I’d imagine that their personal medical professionals cringed.
Big Star has already started a thread claiming that the Bulls are the best sports team Chicago has to offer, and who am I to argue, so CLICK HERE TO TRY A FULL COURT BUCKET SHOT.
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