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Sam Smith

This is a city that has been home to some of the most profound utterances in the nation’s history, the American scripture.

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

And now, “We’ve had a tough stretch,” acknowledged Josh Giddey Monday following the Bulls 126-107 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, the Bulls record falling to 1-6.

But it wasn’t all the classic Philadelphia diet of soggy pretzels and watery Cheez-Whiz.

“Overall, we’re taking steps in the right direction as a group,” insisted Giddey, who had a much improved aggressive offensive effort with 13 points and 10 assists. “It’s not showing in the win column, but we’re getting better and better. In the standings it doesn’t say whether you’ve had a tough stretch or easy stretch (Bulls opening with likely the league’s most difficult schedule). It’s wins and losses. Although the wins are not stacking up right now, I feel we’re heading in the right direction, getting better.

“We feel we can be competitive every night, but we also (know) any team can beat us any night. So we’ve got to come in with the right attitude every night,” said Giddey. “The wins will start to come. (We’re putting) ourselves in position to be in games, but then third quarter, fourth quarter (they) blow us out some. But I feel like it will show on the scoreboard soon enough.”

We hope so as the opening crucible continues Wednesday in Madison Square Garden and then back home to play the 76ers again Sunday and then Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs next week.

At least this nascent Bulls hoops experiment is getting a good look at the NBA’s current version of excellence.

This time it was the reconstructed 76ers with the MVP chants for Tyrese Maxey, who led the 76ers with 26 points, along with All-NBA Jaylen Brown, former MVP Joel Embiid and that role playing facilitator LeBron James. Who had a slick 15 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.

The Bulls were led by Caleb Wilson with 24 points, seven rebounds, four steals and 4-of-9 threes. But they don’t have anything resembling the talent to compete with a veteran team with title aspirations like the 76ers. But unlike a few times in recent weeks, the Bulls kept everyone interested longer, getting within five points at halftime after brief second quarter leads. And then within 68-64 three minutes into the second half with Matas Buzelis getting Wilson on the run for a slam dunk.

That halftime deficit after the Bulls trailed by double digits a minute before, by the way, came with another of those Caleb cataclysms.

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In the last minute of the half, he stole the ball from Embiid, scored on a fast break dunk, stole the ball from James and threw to Buzelis for a layup, and then gathered in a Maxey miss for a three-pointer with a second left.

It does leave you imagining the possibilities.

But a team like the 76ers can toy with a lesser talented opponent a bit and then change the outcome in three minutes. As the 76ers did Monday after that Wilson flush. Maxey, James and VJ Edgecombe dashed in for layups, Embiid with a few jumpers and LeBron with two more layups. And four minutes later the 76ers were leading 83-66.

The Bulls peeked at an eight-point deficit briefly early in the fourth quarter until another long train of abuses and usurpations with threes from Brown, Maxey and Edgecombe. And Maxey doing his cheetah impression with yet another fast break score. The 76ers kept turning Bulls long three-point misses (10 for 38) and turnovers (15 for 25 points) into fast breaks, 31 fast break points for the 76ers who are supposed to wear you down more than wear you out.

Call that an unexpected self evident truth.

Still, you do get the sense if the Bulls continue to play this way with spirit and commitment, if not quite the talent, they’ll begin to gather some victories once the opponents become more mortal.

“We did a lot of good things,” insisted Bulls coach Tiago Splitter. “Of course, we didn’t make shots again. So we’ve got to get to work and play better and with more confidence. We competed for the whole game; got to respect that. Overall we tried to play the way we wanted. Double teamed Embiid in the post, switched and blitzed Maxey. Honestly, the way they scored (the best) was in transition. That’s what we have to clean up. We shared the ball, touched the paint most of the time, took good shots most of the time, tried to play the right basketball. That’s a very good team we played.”

The Bulls got 18 points from Norman Powell with his usual being fouled on a pair of three-point attempts and 11 free throws. Jalen Smith had 13 points to match Giddey and Noa Essengue had eight points, six rebounds and five fouls in 14 minutes. The Bulls were good crashing the offensive boards with 13 retrievals and 20 second-chance points. But the defense continued to require a men at work sign with blow by too regular an occurrence. The 76ers had 62 inside points. Smith often frustrated the often inert Embiid with activity and Wilson continued to delight.

Not so much Buzelis, who played a modest 23 minutes with four points and five turnovers. Though, of course, it’s early in the season as we like to remind everyone. But most of his statistics are down from last season with 29 percent three-point shooting and 16 turnovers the last five games

“(Matas needs to) keep being aggressive,” advised Splitter. “He’s got to take care of the ball. Got to be stronger and don’t play in a crowd. Got to be aggressive the way he plays, rebound the ball, attack open space. He’s having a bad time now. He’s got to get out of this slump. We’re going to show him (in practice), help him work it out, show him what is working and what is not working and go from there.”

It’s something of a pivotal time for Buzelis even so early in the season.

Center Nic Claxton is close to returning from injury and with the record under water and this season something of an audition for the main chorus line, the scrutiny will become more intense.

Buzelis has been considered a potential future star for the franchise. Though Wilson clearly is the eclipse who is shining the brightest light. Giddey offered a hearty endorsement for Buzelis—“the same super talented player we saw last year”—and Buzelis offered an Aaron Rodgers-type ree-lax.

“To be honest, today I didn’t even bring it, defensively offensively,” Buzelis admitted. “I was battling foul trouble in the beginning and I couldn’t get in rhythm. I just got to get into a flow; that’s all I need to get it rolling. I’m not finding any way to attack. I’m just trying to straight line drive. New guys, new coaching staff. It’s just a matter of time. (I’m) never too high, never too low. I know what I’m capable of as a player; in due time.

“It’s a mental game, 80 percent mental (and) 20 percent physical. I’ll be just fine,” predicted Buzelis. “I just need to get it going, defensively, offensively. Trust me, I’ll be just fine, man. As you (media) guys can recall, every one of the beginning of my seasons first and second they were tough. New guys coming in this year it’s even harder. There are challenges all the time. But I can achieve anything I want. As I keep saying, process process. I promise you I’ll figure it out.”

Like Rocky said, the NBA ain’t all sunshine and rainbows

He could have. After all, he may not have been real. No, really.

Submit your question to Sam at&nbsp;asksam@bulls.com

The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Chicago Bulls. All opinions expressed by Sam Smith are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Chicago Bulls or its Basketball Operations staff, parent company, partners, or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Bulls and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.

bulls-run-out-of-gas-in-philadelphia-despite-caleb-wilsons-third-straight-20-point-game

Bulls run out of gas in Philadelphia despite Caleb Wilson's third straight 20-point game

nbaplatformservices

caleb-wilson-with-another-three

Caleb Wilson with another three!

a-buzelis-block-from-behind

A Buzelis block from behind!

caleb-hits-a-three-to-end-the-first-half

Caleb hits a three to end the first half

caleb-wilson-turning-defense-into-offense

Caleb Wilson turning defense into offense!

a-triple-for-noa-essengue

A triple for Noa Essengue!

giddey-gets-into-the-lane-finds-stix

Giddey gets into the lane and finds Jalen Smith!

caleb-hits-a-pull-up-three

Caleb Wilson hits a pull-up three!

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