The Chicago Bulls got SIZED UP on Monday Night, losing to the New Orleans Pelicans behind a depleted frontline — leading to a defeated headline.

The Chicago Bulls fall to the New Orleans Pelicans: 130-143.

sized-up

Coming off their last “win” against the Washington Wizards — a game in which veteran Nikola Vučević, frustrated by his young teammates’ overconfidence while underachieving, blatantly dismissed their celebrations and scolded them in his postgame interview — the Chicago Bulls did everything to prove him right in their loss against the Pelicans on Monday night. Vučević called the team out for their immense lack of effort and failure to consistently do the little things that lead to a winning culture.

Subsequently, the Bulls would be without Vučević in this game that immediately followed those comments. The Bulls would also be missing forwards Isaac Okoro, Dalen Terry, and Kevin Huerter, while also missing big man Zach Collins in this game.

The Bulls’ lack of size has been a glaring issue all year—and a recurring talking point for several seasons. Tonight, it truly reared its ugly head.

fighting-chance

Story continues below.

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To start this game off, the Bulls came out SWINGING. It looked as though whatever Vučević said in that post-game presser from a few nights ago (and other comments after, we’re sure) had made its mark. The team came out ATTACKING the Pelicans in the paint, repeatedly going after their rookie Derek Queen (who many fans wanted the Bulls to pick in this last draft) and Zion Williamson.

After getting off to a hot start and forcing New Orleans to a timeout in the opening seconds of the first quarter, the two teams would continue to go tic-for-tac, back-and-forth, for the rest of the quarter, with the Pelicans edging out Chicago 37-30 to end the 1st.

“lunch-money”

For the rest of the game, it felt as though New Orleans took the Bulls’ lunch money—and never gave it back. At times, it seemed like they even dangled it in front of the Bulls just to rub it in. The Pelicans bullied Chicago in every way imaginable. Take your pick: they snapped a nine-game losing streak, posted a season-high in points against the Bulls, dominated the paint with 78 points, racked up 30 second-chance points, and added 23 points off turnovers. This was an absolute moral beatdown for Chicago.

“Hard-hat, lunch-fail”

Stacey King famously describes Chicago culture—and especially the Bulls—as a “Hard Hat, Lunch Pail” organization. Tonight, it felt like they replaced the ‘P’ with an ‘F.’ This was an abysmal performance from this young team on multiple fronts. The very issues Vučević called out—the little things—were exactly what doomed the Bulls in this one.

The Bulls’ two leading guards, Coby White and Josh Giddey, combined for ten (!!!) turnovers. Coby (24pts, 6ast, 5reb, 5 TO) made his first start of the season but struggled, shooting just 3-of-10 from deep and committing several unforced errors. It was a rough night for him. Giddey (21pts, 7reb, 6ast, 5 TO) also had a tough outing, drawing a costly technical foul in the midst of one of the Bulls’ runs—an error that helped the Pelicans regain momentum yet again.

Ultimately, it was a game defined by mental lapses, as the Bulls were repeatedly outhustled and outmatched where it mattered most.

What’s on tap next

The silver lining in all of this is that at the end of the day, this IS still a young team that is NOT fully healthy, and that is still finding its way. Hopefully, the themes that continue to show themselves in these losses make it clear to the organization that changes are direly needed, and hopefully, those changes will start to come sooner rather than later.

The Bulls’ next game will be on Friday, November 28th at 6:30 pm CT, as they face off against the Charlotte Hornets.

Let’s hope this three-day break gives them some time to reflect, recollect, and regroup.

See you then, and as always — See Red.