Oh, Ye of Little Faith

Usually, I check the score of a Bulls’ game just before the half and again midway through the third quarter. There was nothing I saw last night to suggest the game would go Chicago’s way. A halftime nineteen-point deficit to Joel Embiid and the 76ers usually doesn’t end well, or it hasn’t in recent years. Oh, ye of little faith. Imagine my surprise to find out on the WGN sports’ segment that Nikola Vucevic sank a three-pointer with seventeen seconds left on the clock to give his team its first lead on the night as well as the win, 113-111. Huh? Part of the reason I quit watching was Josh Giddey looked totally out of sync; he kept passing the ball, instead of shooting. Or so it looked during my two peaks. For the game, though, Giddey matched a feat, with back-to-back triple-doubles, last done by a Bull when Michael Jordan managed it back in 1989. On the night, Giddey scored 29 points with fifteen rebounds and twelve assists, the last one setting up Vuvevic for his game winner. Not that I saw it live. The 76ers came in tied with the Bulls for the best record in the Eastern Conference. Sorry, guys, but Philly is now truly second-best. As for the Bulls, they’re 6-1, even though Coby White has yet to take the floor this season and Ayo Dosunmu missed a second straight game with a quad injury. Maybe January won’t be so grim after all.