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CHICAGO -- The Chicago Bulls defense wasn't on point throughout Saturday afternoon's embarassing 97-85 loss to the New Jersey Nets, but Carlos Boozer's postgame commentary certainly was.

"We just played like [expletive] tonight, man," Boozer said in an almost empty Bulls' locker room.

He was absolutely right. Playing without Derrick Rose (back) and Rip Hamilton (thigh/groin) once again, the Bulls played arguably their worst game of the season. They were awful on almost every level. The starters gave the Bulls no boost from the start, allowing the Nets to get out to a 22-3 start. The Bulls defense was brutal in the first half, allowing the Nets to shoot 50 percent from the field. And the Bulls offense was just as bad most of the day, considering they ran sets with no rhythm and looked completely out of sync.

"We weren't ready to play," Boozer said. "We gave them too many shots early. Our defense wasn't very good."

While plenty of people were willing to take the blame for the Bulls' struggles, head coach Tom Thibodeau attempted to take the bullet for his team on this day, blaming himself for the way his team played. Thibodeau doesn't subscribe to the theory, at least publicly, that teams have a few bad games like this each year. He expects more out of his team -- and he obviously expects more out of himself.

"If you believe in preparing for each and every game, you should be ready to go," Thibodeau said. "You can deal with a tough, hard-fought game where they make a shot at the end. But to dig a hole like we did is disappointing. That is more my responsibility to make sure we are ready."

His players didn't want their coach to take all the blame, though. Bulls center Joakim Noah, who didn't score in 21 minutes of play, said he was disappointed in himself for the way he played. He wasn't alone. Given the high standards the Bulls' players have set for themselves under Thibodeau, even they couldn't believe how poorly they played against an awful Nets team.

"I think that we didn't play with a lot of energy tonight," Noah said. "We just couldn't make a run when we needed it."

When they needed to hit a shot, they missed. When they needed to make a stop, the Nets found a way to score. The Bulls simply had no answers and no energy ... a bad combination when a team is already playing without its superstar point guard.

"We got to get better," Bulls guard Mike James said. "This is something that can't be tolerated. This is something that's unacceptable. Especially for what we're trying to prove this year. Especially [what] we're trying to do. If we're considering ourselves as a championship team, well this wasn't championship team basketball tonight."

As poorly as the Bulls played, no one was moping around the locker room as if the world was coming to an end. Sure, the players were frustrated, but the truth is that over the course of an NBA season, especially a condensed one like this one, every team is going to have a few games that look like this.

"We had a bad day," Bulls forward Luol Deng said. "We're not denying that. We got no excuses. We played terrible. We didn't play well. But it's over with. We're going to look at it, try to get better, but just bounce back the next game ... we've got to bring a better effort."

CHICAGO -- Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose will miss Saturday afternoon's game against the New Jersey Nets because of back spasms.

This will be the fifth consecutive game Rose has missed. C.J. Watson will start in his place. The Bulls are 7-2 this season while playing without Rose.

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The Bulls look to improve on their NBA-best 25-7 record Saturday afternoon when they host the Nets.

New Jersey Nets shooting guard Keith Bogans fractured his left ankle and completely tore his deltoid ligament on Wednesday night against the Detroit Pistons and will undergo surgery on Monday, the team announced.

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NEWARK, N.J. -- Just like his team, Tom Thibodeau didn't even think about slowing down when talking about his favorite part of the Chicago Bulls' 108-87 destruction of the New Jersey Nets on Monday night.

"The start," Thibodeau blurted out. "I thought readiness to play. First quarter -- defensively, offensively it was very good."

For the second game in a row, the Bulls blitzed a bad team and put their foot on the gas. And for the second game in a row, the Bulls rode a hot hand (in this case Luol Deng, who was 5-for-5 from the field for 13 points in the first quarter) and absolutely torched an opponent. After shooting 61 percent in the first half against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night, the Bulls followed that up by shooting 64 percent from the field against the Nets. If the mark of a good team is not giving bad teams any hope of stealing a win early, the Bulls continue to mature before everyone's eyes.

"We're learning," Bulls point guard Derrick Rose said. "That's a good thing. I think we're finally getting the message that Thibs is telling us in the beginning of games. We're putting teams away. We're not giving them any confidence -- what we always say. Our energy has just been great."

The energy that Rose speaks of seems to be the biggest difference for the Bulls of late. Instead of muddling through the first 12 minutes of the game, as the Bulls have done at various points throughout the year, Thibodeau has gotten his team to tear off like an Olympic sprinter.

"I think we're just coming out with a lot of energy," Bulls forward Luol Deng said. "We're not waiting to pick it up. We're coming out, our defense has been great in the first quarter. We just got to keep doing that, and we're playing very unselfishly on the offensive end."

How unselfishly?

The Bulls had 29 assists on the night. Combine that with the 31 they had against Milwaukee and that gives the Bulls have 60 assists in the past two games. Most teams around the league would be happy to get that in three or four contests. Not the Bulls.

"We want to play like that every day," Deng said. "There's times where you have a lot of energy. Times where you don't have energy. But I think right now, we're not just playing hard. We're also playing smart. And that's the difference."

It's a difference that the players are taking pride in. They enjoy the peace of mind that comes when they've broken a team's will early. They enjoy the fact that the chants for Brian Scalabrine are starting even earlier. Most of all, they enjoy the fact that they are now 21-6 -- owners of the best record in the league.

"I think we're being really aggressive," Bulls guard Kyle Korver said. "We're not easing into games. Guys are attacking. We're getting out on the break. We started off shooting the ball really well. The last couple games we've hit several threes in the first quarter, that just kind of spreads out the defense. And we've got guys that are able to attack ... the floor just seems really, really, spread right now."

NEWARK -- New Jersey Nets guard Keith Bogans admitted that he felt disrespected by the way his former team, the Chicago Bulls, handled the end of his tenure in Chicago. Bogans, who started every game for the Bulls a season ago, was pulled off the Berto Center floor just before the first official training camp practice on Dec. 9th. The Bulls decided not to pick up the team option they had for him and ended up waiving him a week later.

"Who wouldn't (feel disrespected)?" he said before Monday night's game against his former team. "We're all men first, man. We're men before basketball players. I don't want to say the wrong thing so I'm going to be quiet and let it go. Don't even ask no more about that."

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CHICAGO. -- Let's take a quick look at how the Chicago Bulls squeaked out a 97-92 win over the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday night at the United Center.

How it happened: The Bench Mob came through for the Bulls. Derrick Rose and Luol Deng played about 30 minutes each, so it was up to the Bulls reserves, and they stepped up. Kyle Korver came off the bench to score 19 while Rasual Butler added 10 of his own.

What it means: The Bulls have now assured themselves of at least a tie for the best record in the league. If the San Antonio Spurs lose later tonight, the Bulls will have homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. The better news for the Bulls is that they avoided any serious injuries in the final regular=season game of the year, although Joakim Noah continued to ice his ankle throughout the night.

Stats of the night: The Bulls bench outscored the Nets bench 50-26.

What's next: The Bulls face the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Playoffs on Saturday afternoon.

NEWARK, N.J. -- Derrick Rose and his teammates have gotten to a point now where they're not even surprised when Omer Asik has another big night.

The 24-year-old Turkish center has improved so rapidly that efforts like his 11-point, 16-rebound performance in Thursday night's 84-73 win over the New Jersey Nets have become more common, even for a rookie who struggled mightily at times earlier in the season to find his role.

"That's almost every game with him," Rose said of Asik's latest performance. "To come in and get that many rebounds. Got to the free-throw line, dunked a lot of balls, blocked shots, played a lot of defense, that's what we need from him. We're happy that he's on the team."

The Bulls needed Asik more than usual with Joakim Noah struggling to play with much energy because of the flu. A few months ago there might have been some hesitation to play Asik 25 minutes, but not anymore.

"He's been playing so good for us, and I think that's the beauty of this team," Noah said. "We've got a lot of weapons. And Omer is someone who lives in the gym, improving, his confidence is getting better and better, and he's understanding how he can score in the offense. He's playing at a really high level, and we need that to do what we want to do."

Asik was part of a frontline that dominated the Nets at times down low, outscoring them 44-22 in the paint, while collecting 50 rebounds in the process.

"I think we've got five bigs that are very solid rebounders," Noah said. "Thibs preaches rebounding all the time. And I think [with Carlos Boozer injured], we're still solid rebounding. When I went down we're still very solid rebounding. What Kurt Thomas and what Omer are bringing to the table is huge for us. What Taj [Gibson] is bringing to the table for us with his versatility, the bigs have been doing a great job."

The Bulls benefitted from a big contribution by a player who stepped up in place of a hobbled teammate. With Boozer out of the lineup again because of a sprained ankle, and Noah dealing with the flu, it was Asik who came through in the clutch for the Bulls.

"The thing about today's game that was good, even in the past few games [Asik] struggled a little bit, but his work has been so consistent," Thibodeau said. "And I think he's gotten a lot of confidence. Just kept working the game, working the game, and you could see he just had great rhythm on his rebounding. And he went through that stretch, the last three or four games he was almost there, he got some balls but he just seemed to be missing.

"And today he had that great rebounding rhythm again, it seemed like anything that was near him he was getting. The thing that I liked was that he was going up so strong. It was great. And that energy, I thought it really inspired us too. It was great effort."

It was the type of effort the Bulls have come to expect from Asik and the one that made him so un-tradeable a few weeks ago.

"He works hard, listens, that's the biggest thing," Rose said. "He's doing everything coach wants him to do, especially for a big, and we need him on this team."

NEWARK, N.J. -- Let's take a quick look at how the Chicago Bulls pulled out an 84-73 win over the New Jersey Nets on Thursday night at the Prudential Center.

How it happened: Derrick Rose had 21 points and Luol Deng added 19 as the Bulls won their eighth in a row. This one wasn't pretty by any stretch of the imagination, but once again the Bulls made plays down the stretch when they had to. Kyle Korver gave himself a great birthday present, by draining a huge three with just over a minute left to play. Omer Asik had a big game of his own scoring 11 points and grabbing 16 rebounds.

What it means: The Bulls continue to find ways to win. They lost a game just like this two months ago against the Nets, but they pulled this one out because they learned from their mistakes. They shut down Deron Williams all night, holding him to just a 1-for-12 night from the field. The defense continues to be the constant night in and night out for this team.

Stat of the night: The Bulls outscored the Nets 46-22 in the paint.

What's next: The Bulls are right back at it Friday night when they face off against the Indiana Pacers. Aside from the obvious chase for the number one seed in the East, the Bulls will be looking to stay undefeated in the Central Division.

NEWARK, N.J. -- After playing with fire for weeks, the Bulls finally got burned by their bad habits in Wednesday night's 96-94 defeat at the hands of the New Jersey Nets.

Most notably, the Bulls once again played down to their competition. Only this time, they dug themselves too big a hole to completely climb out of. The Bulls looked lifeless throughout most of the first three quarters and simply didn't have enough juice to close out the game when they needed to. They couldn't make the key plays down the stretch to secure a win over the lowly Nets, and that's the biggest reason there was so much frustration in the team's locker room after the game.

"If anything, it hurts because we played very bad and we still had a chance to win," Bulls point guard Derrick Rose said. "And we had a lot of possessions where we could have took the lead or tie the game but we didn't."

No, they didn't. Sure, the Nets shot the lights out most of the game, shooting 49 percent from the floor (68 percent in the third quarter) but the Bulls simply didn't match New Jersey's intensity level before it was too late. It looked like the Nets just wanted the game a little bit more.

"We didn't establish ourselves defensively to start the game so it was a long night for us," Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau said. "We allowed them to shoot 49 percent and they got the big loose ball at the end that won the game for them so, you got to defend and rebound on the road. And you got to be low turnover. And we didn't defend, we didn't rebound well. And we were low energy most of the game."

This is an ongoing problem for Thibodeau's bunch. Since Joakim Noah left the lineup after having thumb surgery, the Bulls haven't played with the type of consistent energy you'd expect from a team that's won 14 of its last 17 games. What's the problem?

"Not starting off well really hurts us," Rose said. "Where teams get confidence and we can't do this in this league. Anybody can beat you.No matter what their record is."

The Nets proved that on Wednesday night. In the process, they also exposed a few of the flaws that continue to haunt the Bulls:

No charity at the stripe: The Bulls have not been a good free-throw shooting team all season. It finally came back to haunt them against New Jersey. They were just 20-for-30 from the line, including two big misses by Luol Deng with 33.1 second left in the fourth quarter that would have tied the game up.

"I expect myself to make those free throws," Deng said. "I've been struggling with my free throw shooting this year. But it's something, I got to get on it. I can't be in that position and miss those free throws."

Thibodeau response to his team's continued problems at the stripe was a little shorter.

"We got to do a better job at the line."

Deng tired?: While Deng didn't want to use his back to back 40-plus minute nights as an excuse, it was pretty clear to see that he looked a little fatigued at the end of the game. With his recent injury history, it will be interesting to see how he responds in the next few weeks.

"I'm fine. I'm fine," he said. "I just got to keep playing. It's just how some games go. We went small today and we were able to make a run and I'm fine with that."

So, obviously, is Thibodeau.

"You look at the lineup that's playing well," Thibodeau said. "Every night you could, it's easy after the fact to say he's playing too many [minutes]. He's playing effectively. So if he's playing effectively he plays. We were searching for something to get us going, put us in position to win, and that group [with Deng] played extremely well."

No run and gun anymore: Aside from the continued lack of energy, the Bulls haven't played close to the same uptempo style without Noah on the floor. That was the case again Wednesday night as the Nets outscored the Bulls 21-5 on fast break points.

"It's hurting us right now," Rose said. "Where we got to get out and run, get easy baskets. We're not getting easy baskets anymore where everything has to be tough, contested and everything. We don't want that. We got to make the game easy again."

No Booz: The Bulls have a few issues on the floor that have to concern Thibodeau, but it's one off the floor that may give him an even bigger headache in the next couple of days. That's the issue of Carlos Boozer not being on the floor at all down the stretch Wednesday night. The veteran forward was understandably upset by the decision, but didn't elaborate on his feelings except to stay "it was a coach's decision." Thibodeau explained that he liked the matchups more without Boozer on the floor because he wanted to go smaller. That's fine, but Rose surely spoke for a number of players when he admitted that even he was surprised that Boozer didn't come back in the game late. Boozer said he didn't talk to Thibodeau about the decision after the game, but the last thing the first-year head coach needs at the moment is a disgruntled star. How he handles this potentially combustible situation could have an impact on how his team performs on the floor in the near future.

NEWARK, NJ. -- Let's take a quick look at how the New Jersey Nets pulled out a last second 96-94 win over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night at the Prudential Center.

How it happened: After yet again playing without much energy throughout the first three quarters of the game, the Bulls bench brought them almost all the way back in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't meant to be. Sasha Vujacic grabbed a rebound with just over five seconds left and dropped it home. Derrick Rose missed a shot at the buzzer and the Bulls were left to ponder how they just dropped a game to the lowly Nets.

What it means: The Bulls got in late because of issues with their plane, but it shouldn't have mattered. They have a lot more talent than the Nets, yet they played down to their competition one more time. It's a disturbing trend for a team that wants to elevate into the upper echelon of the NBA. The Bulls have pulled these games out throughout the year, but this time they simply dug themselves too much of a hole and didn't have the right answers late.

Stats of the night: Fast break points -- Nets 21-Bulls 5; The Bulls were 20-for-30 from the free throw line.

What's next: The Bulls have a day off Thursday before facing off against the Philadelphia 76ers Friday night. It will be interesting to see how Luol Deng bounces back after playing 40-plus minutes two nights in a row.

CHICAGO -- Let's take a quick look at how the Chicago Bulls earned a 90-81 win over the New Jersey Nets on Friday afternoon at the United Center.

How it happened:The Bulls played with balance throughout most of the day offensively and it showed. Derrick Rose, Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng combined for 58 points while Ronnie Brewer and Kyle Korver combined for 19 points of their own. The better news for Tom Thibodeau was that his team's defense was on point once again. The Nets couldn't seem to get much going all day, struggling to put any kind of run together.

What it means:Say what you want how the Bulls are doing it, but you can't take away they fact that they continue to win games. The energy is still lacking at times and could be better, but they are finding ways to win each night and that has to make Thibodeau happy. Regardless of how the offense is running, the Bulls are playing with a little more passion on the defensive end of late and it's showing. Over the past two games, Thibodeau's bunch has held opponents (New Jersey and Milwaukee) to 158 points combined.

Stat of the night:Boozer had 15 of the Bulls' 43 rebounds.

What's next: The Bulls are right back at it Saturday night when the Cleveland Cavaliers come to town. It will be interesting to see how both teams respond after New Year's Eve in Chicago.

David Lee was a wanted man after the clock struck midnight Thursday, so wanted that he has already lined up meetings with four teams: Miami, Chicago, Minnesota and New Jersey.

The New York Knicks' forward became an unrestricted free agent, and agent Mark Bartelstein said he was contacted by eight or nine teams that had expressed an interest in signing Lee.

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