Nov. 08--PHILADELPHIA -- This is still going to take some getting used to, this offensive juggernaut that is the Bulls these days.
And that's without Derrick Rose, whose absence is something with which the Bulls are far too familiar.
But the Bulls are so numb to the will-he-or-won't-he angle surrounding Rose that when he sits again with sore ankles, as he did Friday night against the 76ers, they don't miss a beat. And now, instead of suffocating teams with defense and rebounding, they just get buckets.
The Bulls' 118-115 victory once again shoved the struggle-to-break-85-points nights of last season into the past. This team is deep. This offense is unselfish. And with so many weapons on any given night, they seem immune to prolonged slumps.
No wonder 76ers coach Brett Brown said, while it's early, he rated the Bulls as the best team in the Eastern Conference.
Then again, given they let an 18-point, fourth-quarter lead drop to one and were outrebounded for the fifth straight game while treating defense as optional, work remains.
"We're scoring a lot of different ways," Joakim Noah said. "I remember when the score was 81-76, just fiending to get a basket. Now we're scoring 100 every night. And I feel like it can get better."
Urban Dictionary defines "fiending" as "to incredibly crave for something, as in sex or drugs" so leave it to Noah to put the past struggles so colorfully. And the All-Star center returned from missing two games to illness with five points and nine rebounds in 30 minutes, 37 seconds.
"I felt good, man," Noah said. "It's tough coming back from being sick. But we got it done."
But the story of the night -- and the season -- is the offense, led this time by Mike Dunleavy's 27 points and 23 from Jimmy Butler. The Bulls now have topped 100 points in four of six games, topped 50 percent shooting twice and have a low of a still-respectable 45.6 percent against the Cavaliers.
For the sixth straight game, the Bulls placed at least five players in double figures.
"We have some weapons for sure," Dunleavy said. "It's all part of the depth they've added. Even the young guys trying to find their way in the league are very unselfish. The veteran, older guys are completely focused on winning, willing to share the ball. It's what every player wants."
Dunleavy scored 11 points, including three of his five 3-pointers, in a third-quarter spurt in which the Bulls built their big lead. And this stretch underscored another offensive trait of this team.
"Our guys did a good job of recognizing that he was going well," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "They were searching him out and making plays for him. That's what I like about our team. It's a very unselfish team and they recognize when someone is going good and will screen for them and get them open."
Aaron Brooks had it going earlier, but he tweaked a right ankle that needed to be re-taped. Brooks, who has scored in double figures in five of six games, said he's hopeful to play Saturday.
"I love the guy because he's tough as nails," Thibodeau said. "You can start him, play him big minutes, play him in the fourth quarter. He's going to battle people. He's going to make the right play. He has a high IQ. When he gets in the paint, he knows where everyone is and what everyone can do. He leads guys into their strengths and covers up their weaknesses."
Brooks laughed when asked about his reputation as a shoot-first guard.
"I wouldn't say I'm shoot-first," he said. "Just make the right plays. Sometimes that can be an assist. I don't want to be labeled as anything."
kcjohnson@tribune.com
Twitter @kcjhoop
