Daily NBA Fix: Chicago Bulls Blow Another Fourth Quarter Lead

The Chicago Bulls blew another fourth quarter lead on Thursday, this time to the Los Angeles Clippers and though it didn’t cost them the game it can’t be a good sign for the Windy City.

It helped the Blake Griffin earned himself a Flagrant 2 and an ejection from the game, but that shouldn’t provide much solace for Chicago Bulls fans as they nearly watched their team lose another game with poor play in the fourth quarter. There was nothing pretty in a game where the Bulls and Clippers were just able to outscore the first half of the Warriors-Pacers game from Tuesday night in Chicago’s 83-80 win.

Chicago was leading by 14 midway through the third quarter before Griffin got himself ejected, but that didn’t matter for Los Angeles as they rallied to close that gap with 7:19 left in the fourth quarter.

According to stats from TeamRanking.com, in the last three games only one team has been worse than the -10 point differential than the Bulls, and when you’re only ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers, there isn’t much to be proud of. They’ve been outscored in each of their last four games in the fourth quarter, only losing in three of those games by a combined eight points.

Things were different on Thursday as they did just enough to hold on for the win and they improved their record to 12-8, but it was against a 13-10 team without their All-Star power forward and one facing plenty of their own turmoil. Despite playing a combined 37 minutes, both Josh Smith and Lance Stephenson are rumored to be on the trading block.

More from Hoops Habit

• 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
• Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
• Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
• Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
• NBA Trades: The Lakers bolster their frontcourt in this deal with the Pacers

You can’t go as far as to say the Bulls or the Clippers are bad, but for Chicago, it seems like they are in a transition point between the Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler eras. Rose is a leader, but the emergence of Butler is starting to put the team in a spot where they will have to choose who is really in charge among the players once push comes to shove.

Chicago has looked sluggish and has been outworked in recent games, falling to the Charlotte Hornets, Boston Celtics, and Phoenix Suns before nearly blowing it against the Clippers. They went to Rose more in the fourth quarter against the Clippers as he took seven shots to Butler’s three and he seems to be the weapon of choice as the clock winds down.

Chicago has plenty of problems to sort out right now, and picking the team’s go-to guy might be one of the issues that needs to be addressed. Maybe the last four games are too small of a sample to look at, but it seems at one point or another establishing who is effectively the team captain is in their future.

Knicks Lose Fourth Straight, Time To Shuffle The Lineup?

Consider DeMarcus Cousins‘ slam dunk over Robin Lopez an illustration of the new York Knicks’ current four-game losing streak.

Boogie himself helped make the latest one happen last night as the Sacramento Kings beat the Knicks 99-97 behind Cousins’ 27 points and 11 rebounds.

Even before last night our own Sean Linhares was asking if New York needed to mix things up on their roster, and another loss couldn’t have helped:

"“Perhaps the Knicks biggest question in regards to their rotation is how to handle a quietly stacked backcourt.The starting tandem of Jose Calderon and Arron Afflalo have been extremely efficient for the Knicks since Afflalo returned from a preseason hamstring injury, and a turnover differential of plus-7.0 per 100 possessions makes it difficult to see either man pulled out of the starting lineup.With that being said, the duo of Langston Galloway and Jerian Grant have already been crowned as the future at the Knicks guard positions. Despite Galloway, who’s in his second season, and Grant, a rookie, having some struggles as of late, the duo still holds the third highest point differential of any Knicks duo, sitting at plus-2.8 per 100 possessions.”"

If the Knicks keep sliding, much like the Chicago Bulls they will need to decide if the present or the future is what they are focused on.

KD is Still a Monster

Kevin Durant posted a triple-double on Thursday with 25 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in a 101-94 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. Lost in some of the Western Conference’s so-so start to the season is that Durant, when healthy, looks to be his old self. Even the Hawks own Twitter account was begging for mercy as the KD and the Thunder were shooting the lights out.

Russell Westbrook held down the fort while KD was gone, but the two have combined with the rest of the Oklahoma City Thunder to put themselves in third place in the Western Conference standings.

Next: NBA Power Rankings: Week 7

They’re now only behind the perfect Golden State Warriors and ever reliable San Antonio Spurs.