CHICAGO _ All offseason long, the Orlando Magic said they'd have a top-notch defense.
Seven games into the season, they're still waiting for that promise to materialize, despite a few stellar fourth quarters.
The latest letdown occurred Monday night against the Chicago Bulls.
Crushed in the third quarter and buried by a massive free-throw discrepancy, the Magic lost to the Bulls 112-80 at the United Center.
Chicago made 25 of its 31 attempts at the foul line, while Orlando went just five for six _ a sign that the Bulls were far more aggressive and far more physical.
Bulls power forward Taj Gibson dominated his matchup against the Magic's Serge Ibaka, scoring 16 points and collecting 11 rebounds. Bulls small forward Jimmy Butler totaled 20 points, five rebounds and seven assists.
Gibson and Butler keyed a decisive third-quarter run. The Bulls closed the period by outscoring the Magic 25-5 to take control of the game.
The Bulls seemed to beat the Magic to every loose ball during that stretch.
With Chicago ahead 76-58, Gibson missed a jumper, but center Robin Lopez grabbed the offensive rebound without resistance and scored on an easy putback layup.
A few sequences later, Doug McDermott misfired on a long 3-pointer. As the ball careened toward the sideline, Butler hustled after it, jumped in the air to collect it before it went out of bounds and passed to a teammate.
Butler got the ball back, drove to the hoop and drew a foul on Bismack Biyombo. Butler's two free throws extended Chicago's lead to 78-61.
The rout was on.
The Magic allowed the Bulls to make 47.2 percent of their shots from the field.
Both teams shot the ball well early in the first quarter, with Orlando making 10 of its first 12 shots and Chicago making eight of its first 13 attempts.
But only the Bulls sustained their offensive momentum.
They ended the first quarter on a 15-0 run capped by a Nikola Mirotic 3-pointer just before time expired.
The Magic missed all seven of their shots and turned the ball over twice during that stretch.
The Bulls made six of their 10 attempts, including two of their four tries from beyond the arc.
Chicago inflicted the bulk of that damage as Orlando had Evan Fournier and four members of its second unit on the court: D.J. Augustin, Mario Hezonja, Jeff Green and Biyombo.
The Magic (3-4) entered Monday on a three-game winning streak. The Bulls (4-3) had lost three consecutive games.
In Orlando's comeback victories over the Sacramento Kings and Washington Wizards, the second unit gave the Magic a huge boost.
But not on Monday.
The Bulls have one of the league's most efficient offenses.
They led 61-52 at halftime.
The Magic showed signs of life early in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to 63-58 on a 3-pointer by Fournier.
Then, the Bulls started to roll.
Elfrid Payton fouled Rajon Rondo, and Rondo made one of his two attempts.
No one knew it at the time, but it started one of the Magic's most dismal stretches of the season.
The defense has been a major disappointment so far.
Players and coach Frank Vogel have said the new-look roster will need time to jell and will need time to adjust to Vogel's X's-and-O's schemes.
But containing the ball on the perimeter continues to be a problem, leading to problems with the team's defensive rebounding.
On Monday, Chicago scored 60 of its 112 points in the paint and compiled 14 second-chance points.
Ibaka, a former three-time NBA All-Defensive first-team player, had looked better on defense during Orlando's winning streak. But Gibson outplayed him Monday night.
Then again, the entire Bulls roster seemed to outplay the Magic.
