Saturday, Chicago answered the hype once again early in the season, by leaving their “circus trip” on the west coast with a 4-3 record. The first winning record on the annual road trip since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were the kings of the court in 1998.

The pieces of talent and solid coaching are coming together to have the Bulls answer the hype, even though Boozer hasn’t played a game and won’t until Wednesday or Friday.

[picappgallerysingle id="7407198"]

At 9-6, the Bulls are on top of the central division and are the fourth best team in the Eastern Conference, but only a half game behind the Atlanta Hawks, who have played three more games than the Bulls. The Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic are only two and a half games ahead of the Bulls as they are tied with 12-4 records.

I’ve said this before, but the Bulls are doing all of this without Boozer.

On the road trip, Chicago played great basketball and gave each of its west coast opponents competition, which is the first time in 12 years.

The Bulls started the 7 games in 11 days road trip by defeat the Houston Rockets (5-11), which wasn’t a surprise because the Rockets are not playing well because they can’t find a way to include Kevin Martin in the offense or find someone on the bench to add any scoring.

Tony Parker, who had just been served divorce papers from Eva Longoria a few hours before the game, made sure his San Antonio Spurs (14-2) would get the win on the second game of Chicago’s road trip. The Spurs won 103-94, but the Bulls outscored the Spurs in three quarters of the game.

[picappgallerysingle id="10134144"]

San Antonio unleashed a 37-point scoring onslaught while only allowing the Bulls 12 points in the third quarter, which won the game for the Spurs. Parker scored 21 points and led the game with seven assists while Tim Duncan dropped 16 points and grabbed a season high 18 rebounds.

In the third game, Dirk Nowitzki scored 36 points for the Dallas Mavericks (12-4), but the Bulls got the win 88-83 because their defense over powered the high scoring Maverick offense.

The Los Angeles Lakers (13-4) bench beat the Bulls on the fourth game of the road trip as Shannon Brown scored 18 points in the first half off 4-of-5 shooting from the three-point line, then Steve Blake and Matt Barnes hit clutch threes in the fourth quarter to open the game up for the victory. The Lakers bench scored 39 points compared to the Bulls 10 points from the bench to win the game 98-91.

In the most thrilling game of the road trip, the Bulls beat the 8-9 Phoenix Suns 123-115 in double overtime. I can’t even lie about this one, the game was on my computer and the Bulls were down by 15 points in the third quarter. Instead of watching the rest of the game, I turned on a different game and played NBA2K11, thinking the game was over. My friend text me and asked if I was watching it because the Bulls forced overtime. I’ll never lose faith again.

Chicago defeated the 10-6 Denver Nuggets Nov. 8, 94-92, giving Carmelo Anthony fuel to lead his team to a 98-97 victory the second time around when the Bulls came to their place. Melo scored 22 points for the Nuggets including the game winning jumper.

Saturday, the Bulls finished the road trip by defeating the 4-11 Sacramento Kings, 96-85. Not much to speak about here, the Bulls dominated the game, including Rose breaking Tyreke Evans ankles more than once.

[picappgallerysingle id="10195543"]

As you can tell, there was a trend, win one-lose one, which might make you think, okay, that’s not impressive. But, it is, when you’re talking about games against three of the six best teams in the league in the Spurs, Lakers and Mavericks, plus the Nuggets, who are in the top eight in the Western Conference.

The Western Conference has seven teams with 10 or more wins, while the Eastern Conference has three: Magic, Celtics and Hawks.

Chicago has made a gigantic stride towards the top of the conference and with similar play as this road trip against the Western Conference, they will be approaching the top of the entire league.

Unfortunately, Carlos Boozer tripped over a bag and broke his hand in the preseason. The offensively gifted power forward hasn’t played a game with the Bulls and the team is 7-4, not bad, considering Chicago’s $80 million dollar man is in streets clothes on the sideline.

Well, guess what, Boozer is scheduled to suite up for practice Nov. 30 and could be on the Bulls starting lineup as soon as Dec. 1.

What does Boozer playing mean to a team which is already shocking the league without a player who will get 20 points and 10 rebounds every game?

[picappgallerysingle id="8147863"]

It means the Orlando Magic and the Boston Celtics have to watch their back from falling from the two top spots in the Eastern Conference. Right now, the 7-4 Chicago Bulls are in third place, but with Boozer returning, the Bulls could very quickly gain the game and a half they’re back and build a lead of their own.

Dec. 1 has Chicago scheduled to play Orlando and then two days later, Dec. 3, the Bulls play the Celtics; isn’t this convenient and great NBA entertainment? Yes, yes it is.

This makes the Boozer deal even bigger, because the Bulls need the added depth and inside scoring to play with the bigger more physical Celtics and Dwight Howard. Not the Magic, just Howard.

Plus, the pro Rajon Rando/ anti Derrick Rose people will find out Rose  can match Rando’s dishing skills when he has someone to give the ball to.

After failing to sign one of the three players now in Miami, the Bulls were all but out of making progress from last season’s 41-41 regular season record and early dismissal from the playoffs as James and the top seeded Cleveland Cavaliers whooped Chicago.

Although, he isn’t the best player in the league or even in the top 20, he adds to something the Bulls haven’t had in some time, a chance to be a dominant team. Since 1998 when the Bulls won their sixth and final championship, they haven’t been past the second round of the playoffs and they only got there once.

Friday’s win against the Dallas Mavericks made it the first time the Bulls went 2-1 in Texas, against the Mavericks, Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs, since, you guessed it, 1998.

The Bulls are on their way to becoming realistic title contenders and a few of the things they could use, inside depth and scoring, are sitting on their bench. I can’t wait until Boozer is cleared to play, so we can see what the Bulls can really do.

Wednesday’s match-ups begin with the Chicago Bulls playing the second game of their “Circus Trip” as ESPN likes to call it. In the the road trip the Bulls will play seven west coast teams in 12 days including five of the seven top eight teams in the Western Conference. Wednesday finds the Bulls in San Antonio against the Spurs.

Tim Duncan and company are 8-1 which puts them in a three way tie for the best record in the league with the New Orleans Hornets and the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Miami Heat and the Phoenix Suns are going to see who can past 6-4 as they meet in a battle of the disappointments. Miami’s big three of LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade are not living up to the hype while the Suns, last year’s Western Conference Champions, are extremely inconsistent, mainly because they don’t have an inside presence. Oh, almost forgot, Robin Lopez, the Suns only valuable big man, is out with a knee injury.

What other games are Wednesday night?

[picappgallerysingle id="8952781"]

Chicago Bulls at San Antonio Spurs…Bulls, I said before the Spurs would win, but after watching the Bulls play yesterday…I have faith

Phoenix Suns at Miami Heat…Heat, I’d love to say Suns so they could give Heat another loss, but the Suns have no inside presence at all, Bosh might have his best game of the season.

Toronto Raptors at Philadelphia 76ers…Raptors, they have looked good compared to the 76ers, who will be without Andre Iguodala.

Washington Wizards at Boston Celtics…Celtics, even if  Wall wasn’t sitting out with a foot injury, i’d still pick Boston because they are going to bone stomp Washington.

Los Angeles Lakers at Detroit Pistons…Lakers, they’re going to bone stomp them worse than Boston will Washington.

Dallas Mavericks at New Orleans Hornets…Hornets, they’re playing solid ball while the Mavericks have been inconsistant.

Los Angeles Clippers at Minnesota Timberwolves…Clippers, Blake Griffin will beat them by himself.

Houston Rockets at Oklahoma City Thunder…Rockets, the Thunder still have a problem beating bigger teams.

New Jersey Nets at Utah Jazz…Jazz, this will be closer than expected but Deron Williams will make the difference for the victory.

New York Knicks at Sacramento Kings…Knicks, New York can shoot well against teams who play little defense, this is one of them.

Each year the Bulls begin their season facing some of the east’s worst teams and a few best, then get thrown to the wolves in the Western Conference for a long stay of at least seven or eight games. This year the Bulls play seven teams in 11 days beginning with the Houston Rockets Tuesday and ending with the Sacramento Kings Nov. 27.

Five of the seven teams the Bulls will face are top eight teams in the Western Conference.

[picappgallerysingle id="10131143"]

The Rockets and the Kings are the only two of the seven teams who would not be in the Western Conference Playoffs, if they started today. After the Bulls play the Rockets Tuesday, they play the San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns and the Denver Nuggets.

Similar to past seasons, this road trip will be a deciding factor of where the Chicago Bulls stand in the Eastern conference.

If they can win five of the seven games they will probably move from the fourth spot to at least N0. three to move past the Atlanta Hawks, who have not been playing good basketball as of late.

The surprising thing is the Bulls are 5-3 and playing solid basketball without power forward Carlos Boozer. Chicago signed Boozer this summer because he would bring an inside offensive presence to open up the back court for Derrick Rose and Luol Deng.

Instead center Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson have been putting up great numbers to help the Bulls win games. Gibson’s 14.3 points per game, 6.4 rebounds and 60% shooting percentage are better than a few of the leagues “elite” players such as Miami Heat’s Chris Bosh.

Noah showed signs of being an all-star caliber player last season and has reaffirmed these claims averaging 16.5 points and is second in the league with 13.3 rebounds a game.

Deng showed little desire in the Bulls first two games, but has been playing out of his mind since then including going for a career high 40 points Nov. 1.

If the Bulls can continue to play how they have been as of late, there is no reason they can’t take five of these games. Chicago already beat Denver and shouldn’t have much problem with the Kings.

The Suns are an up-tempo offensive team, but the Bulls are a superb transition defense team.

Although I hate the Spurs, the Spurs and the Lakers are the only two teams I will pick to win against Chicago.

Either way, this road trip is important more than it has been in the past. Before, the Bulls were just going on another road trip to see if they could win two or three games and hopefully be above .500 when they came back to the Windy City.

This year, it’s different because they’re playing to be one of the top teams in the east and gain a large cushion from the bottom of the conference, even without Boozer.

Hopefully, Rose, Noah, Gibson and Deng can continue playing how they have been and let the rest of the league know the Bulls are a title contender.

Luol Deng led the way with a double-double of 26 points and 11 rebounds, as all five starters scored in double-digits and had at least one steal and block. In general, the Bulls bone stomped the Warriors in every aspect of the game.

In other games around the NBA on Thursday, the Boston Celtics manhandled the Miami Heat once again. The final score was 112-107, but it only became close in the late minutes with a Heat run, but other than that, the Celtics owned the Heat from the time the ball was jumped. Boston’s Ray Allen scored 35 points including his gift to hit seven three-pointers , while Rajon Rondo dished out 16 assists as he continues to lead the league in assists per game with 14.9.

Boston’s record doesn’t matter, but the Heat who put together a superstar threesome in Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh fell to 5-4 to have all my co-workers, Facebook pals and other bloggers laughing at Miami.

[picappgallerysingle id="10120096"]

The good thing is, I picked the Celtics to win because I remembered how they dominated the Heat in the paint and there is no one on the Miami roster who can contain Rondo from setting up everyone on his team.

Also, the New Orleans Hornets are the only undefeated team in the NBA as the Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Denver Nuggets 118-112. Carmelo Anthony continues to dominate against any defensive player or team he wishes as he scored 32 points to led his team. Kobe Bryant also did his thing, scoring 34 points in the defeat.

Let’s see how my NBA picks worked out for Thursday and set some for Friday.

THURSDAY’S PICKS

Chicago Bulls beat Golden State Warriors 120-90…Right, the Bulls played almost a flawless game.

Boston Celtics beat Miami Heat 112-107…Right, the Heat have no answers for the Boston Celtics.

Denver Nuggets beat Los Angeles Lakers 118-112…Wrong, the Nuggets had been struggling while the Lakers were undefeated, but Melo showed he can tear up any defense.

[picappgallerysingle id="10126515"]

FRIDAY’S GAMES AND PICKS

Utah Jazz at Atlanta Hawks…Jazz, Deron Williams and Al Jefferson are becoming an unstoppable duo while the Hawks have fallen from their high level of play.

Houston Rockets at Indiana Pacers…Rockets, they have more skill.

Toronto Raptors at Orlando Magic…Magic, the Raptors are awful while the Magic have been playing above average, not great but good.

Charlotte Bobcats at Washington Wizards…Wizards, John Wall is making a statement.

New York Knicks at Minnesota Timberwolves…Knicks, Amare Stoudemire should get the win by himself, but they do have to D up Kevin Love.

Philadelphia 76ers at  Dallas Mavericks…Mavericks, the 76ers put up points, but Mavericks put up more.

Sacramento Kings at Phoenix Suns…Suns, although they’re a team on the decline, the Phoenix back court is still extremely talented with Steve Nash and Jason Richardson.

Portland Trailblazers at Oklahoma City Thunder…Blazers, LaMarcus Aldridge will have a field day offensively while Marcus Camby will control the glass.

Detroit Pistons at Los Angeles Clippers…Pistons, game of two lackluster teams, but the Pistons are healthy while the Clippers are banged up with Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman and Randy Foye all suffering from injuries.

MAKE YOUR PICKS

1) COMMENT BOX

2) EMAIL:  BRANDON.LACHANCE@BULLSHOME.COM

The Pacers tore it up, but unfortunately, I thought the game would go the other way for the Nuggets because no one would ever think the Pacers would shoot as good as they did. Mike Dunleavy had 24 points in the third quarter alone and finished with 31 points for the night.

Lets see how the rest of the night went around the League.

TUESDAY’S PICKS (4-3)

Indiana Pacers beat Denver Nuggets 144-113…Wrong, Nuggets could match the firepower of Indiana.

Cleveland Cavaliers beat New Jersey Nets 93-91…Right, Cavs are not a good team, but they’re one of the best of the bad teams.

Utah Jazz beat Miami Heat 116-114 in overtime…Wrong, Paul Millsap put up the most points in the NBA Tuesday with 46 because the Heat don’t have an inside defensive stopper.

New Orleans Hornets beat Los Angeles Clippers 101-82…Right, Hornets are 7-0 for the season and have beaten the Clippers 14 consecutive times.

Milwaukee Bucks beat New York Knicks 107-80…Wrong, Sorry I underestimated the Bucks, they put it on the Knicks, who have been shooting the ball well.

Portland Trailblazers beat Detroit Pistons 100-78…Right, Detroit simply over matched.

Los Angeles Lakers beat Minnesota Timberwolves 99-94…Right, the Lakers played some of their worst ball of the season and still won to either show the strength of the Lakers or how bad the Timberwolves are. LA is undefeated at 8-0.

[picappgallerysingle id="10172336"]

WEDNESDAY GAMES AND PICKS

Milwaukee Bucks at Atlanta Hawks…Hawks, although the Bucks played well Tuesday, they played the no defense Knicks, the Hawks are on a way higher level.

Utah Jazz at Orlando Magic…Magic, Paul Millsap isn’t going to score 46 points against Dwight Howard and the Magic defense.

Houston Rockets at Washington Wizards…Rockets, Houston has a better lineup and is playing better ball.

Charlotte Bobcats at Toronto Raptors…Raptors, game could go either way, but Toronto has been playing a little better as of late.

[picappgallerysingle id="10163341"]

New Jersey Nets at Cleveland Cavaliers…Cavs, they beat the Nets in New Jersey on Tuesday, no reason they can’t beat them at home.

Golden State Warriors at New York Knicks…Warriors, if the Knicks played like they did Tuesday, anyone can beat them.

Philadelphia 76ers at Oklahoma City Thunder…Thunder, the 76ers don’t have the scoring punch or inside defense to hang with the Thunder.

Dallas Mavericks at Memphis Grizzlies…Mavericks, the Grizzlies won the first meeting, I think Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki want to prove it was a fluke.

Los Angeles Clippers at San Antonio Spurs…Spurs, they’re who we thought they were, a talented team with veteran leadership.

Minnesota Timberwolves at Sacramento Kings…Kings, they’re a solid team while the Timberwolves are struggling horribly.

MAKE YOUR PICKS

1) In the comment box

2) Send an email to brandon.lachance@bullshome.com

Today’s games should go a little smoother, well, lets hope.

SUNDAY PICKS

Phoenix Suns beat Atlanta Hawks 118-114…Wrong, Joe Johnson scored 34 points and the Hawks still lost, Phoenix must have been on all cylinders.

Detroit Pistons beat Golden State Warriors 102-97…Wrong, I don’t understand how the Pistons win games.

Houston Rockets beat Minnesota Timberwolves 120-94…Right, Minnesota is garbage

Boston Celtics beat Oklahoma City Thunder 92-83…Right, OKC can not play with big physical teams.

Los Angeles Lakers beat Portland Trailblazers 121-96…Wrong, went for the upset and Pau Gasol goes off for a trippe-double.

MONDAY’S GAMES AND PICKS

Denver Nuggets at Chicago Bulls…Bulls, Denver is playing a real small lineup, the front court of the Bulls should dominate the glass, resulting in a win.

Atlanta Hawks at Orlando Magic…Hawks, although they lost yesterday, they played tough. This will be a good game.

Golden State Warriors at Toronto Raptors…Warriors, they’ve been having a tough time lately against teams who have scoring talent because they don’t have defense, but the Raptors can’t score.

San Antonio Spurs at Charlotte Bobcats…Spurs, TOO good.

Phoenix Suns at Memphis Grizzlies…Suns, Steve Nash and Jason Richardson are playing out of their minds lately.

Boston Celtics at Dallas Mavericks…Boston, they’re on a roll and are too good defensively for the Mavericks.

Saturday was another show of proof I should just not be a fan of any team, well, I’m going to anyway.

The Sacramento Kings were the only team I picked to win on Saturday to lose as they fell to the Memphis Grizzlies. Hmmm…what team’s band wagon should I jump on after I hop off of Sacramento’s wagon.

The almost perfect Saturday Results (8-1)

[picappgallerysingle id="10136529"]

Cleveland Cavaliers beat Washington Wizards 107-102…Right, Cavs are a better team without LeBron James than I thought they would be.

Orlando Magic beat Charlotte Bobcats 91-88…Right, Magic too big-too good.

Miami Heat beat New Jersey Nets 101-89…Right, Heat will beat the Nets every game.

New Orleans Hornets beat Milwaukee Bucks 91-87…Right, Hornets stay undefeated.

San Antonio Spurs beat Houston Rockets 124-121 in over time…Right, Spurs are playing great ball.

Denver Nuggets beat Dallas Mavericks 103-92…Right, Denver got its revenge.

Utah Jazz beat Los Angeles Clippers 109-107 in overtime…Right, Clippers itching for a win, nope, Deron Williams won’t let them scratch.

Portland Trailblazers beat Toronto Raptors 97-84…Right, Blazers have too much talent.

Memphis Grizzlies beat Sacramento Kings 100-91…Wrong, I don’t know what to say, I’m weaping.

SUNDAY PICKS

The Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Knicks played at Noon, so I can’t pick a game already played. The Knicks shooters didn’t show up=76ers victory.

Phoenix Suns at Atlanta Hawks…Hawks, they stay undefeated because the Suns don’t have the players in the front court to match up Josh Smith and company.

Golden State Warriors at Detroit Pistons…Warriors, Golden State has a better team.

Minnesota Timberwolves at Houston Rockets…Houston, Kevin Martin and Luis Scola can win this game by themselves.

Boston Celtics at Oklahoma City Thunder…Celtics, the Thunder choke against top notch competition.

Portland Trailblazers at Los Angeles Lakers…Blazers, the Lakers have a tough time against the Blazers and they have been playing good basketball.

[picappgallerysingle id="10136393"]

Anyway, It is 7 p.m. and Wednesday’s games have already started. I wasn’t able to get my picks out due to a migraine headache gracing me around lunch time and sticking by my side until somewhere around 6 p.m. I’m going to make my picks without looking at what is going on now. I promise I haven’t looked, it you don’t believe me, that is your problem.

Tuesday’s Picks

Atlanta Hawks beat Cleveland Cavaliers 100-88–Right, Hawks had too much in their favor.

Washington Wizards beat Philadelphia 76ers 116-115 in overtime–Right, Wall led the league in scoring Tuesday with 29 points to earn his first NBA victory.

Boston Celtics beat Detroit Pistons 109-86–Right, Boston is a team, Detroit has players.

Miami Heat beat Minnesota Timberwolves 129-97–Right, this game was over in July.

Portland Trailblazers beat Milwaukee Bucks 90-76–Right, I love it when teams we beat, win against other teams in the central division.

Los Angeles Lakers beat Memphis Grizzlies 124-105–Right, everyone had this game right.

[picappgallerysingle id="10121839"]

Wednesday’s Picks

Detroit Pistons at Atlanta Hawks–Hawks

Charlotte Bobcats at New Jersey Nets–Bobcats

Minnesota Timberwolves at Orlando Magic–Magic

Indiana Pacers at Philadelphia 76ers–Pacers

Milwaukee Bucks at Boston Celtics–Celtics

New Orleans Hornets at Houston Rockets–Hornets

Dallas Mavericks at Denver Nuggets–Nuggets

Toronto Raptors at Utah Jazz–Jazz

San Antonio Spurs at Phoenix Suns–Spurs

Memphis Grizzlies at Golden State Warriors–Warriors

Oklahoma City Thunder at Los Angeles Clippers–Thunder

Los Angeles Lakers at Sacramento Kings–Lakers

This should be a winnable game for the Bulls if:

Defense is at a high level- which it was for three quarters against the Oklahoma City Thunder Wednesday

Stop hacking-OKC shot 44 free throws compared to Chicago’s 22.

Turnovers- Chicago gave up the ball four times in the fourth quarter, three of them led to OKC points, including two fast break dunks.

Scoring-Someone other than Derrick Rose has to score for the Bulls.

[picappgallerysingle id="8357915"]

Detroit doesn’t play defense except for Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton, who will probably be on Luol Deng and whoever is at the two-guard. I’m hoping Kyle Korver gets the start, but it could be Keith Bogans, who got the start against the Thunder.

If the Bulls take care of the ball on offense and defend the Pistons scorers such as Prince, Hamilton and Ben Gordon, and do a better job with help defense, Chicago gets the W.

After a disappointing game against the Thunder, in which the Bulls laid an egg in the fourth quarter, they should be determined to beat a poor Pistons team.

Detroit Pistons at Chicago Bulls–Bulls win because the D holds the Pistons.

Other games on Oct. 30

Washington Wizards at Atlanta Hawks–The Hawks are 2-0 and will remain undefeated.

Sacramento Kings at Cleveland Cavaliers–Tough game to choose, but I’m sticking with my upset team of the season, Sacramento

Portland Trailblazers at New York Knicks–Portland has too much talent for Amare Stoudemire to compete against, Blazers win

Philadelphia 76ers at Indiana Pacers–Another tough one, but Danny Granger and Darren Collison will pull out the win.

Minnesota Timberwolves at Memphis Grizzlies–Grizzlies have improved over the past two years, they get the nod.

Denver Nuggets at Houston Rockets–The Nuggets are playing good ball, with Carmelo Anthony proving he is an elite player, Nuggets.

Charlotte Bobcats at Milwaukee Bucks-Battle of two rising teams, I can’t pick against the central division in a situation such as this, Fear the Deer, for one game at least.

New Orleans Hornets at San Antonio Spurs–Tim Duncan and company are rolling and it’s at home, no doubt they get the W.

Yesterday I was horrible with a 4-8 record

Things which went as expected:

The Hawks beat the 76ers because they’re more talented and the same things go with the match-ups the Thunder, Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers met up with.

Things which went wrong:

The Miami Heat downed the Orlando Magic to prove me terribly wrong because I thought the Magic were ready to take the Eastern Conference.

Blake Griffin is putting up numbers with the Los Angeles Clippers, but the stats are not winning games as they fall to the Golden State Warriors.

After owning the Heat, the Cleveland Cavaliers fall to the Toronto Raptors.

[picappgallerysingle id="10086869"]

The New Jersey Nets, Indiana Pacers and Minnesota Timberwolves win games, I thought would go the other way, while the Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets lose games they win easily on paper.

Submit your picks in the comment box or email me at brandon.lachance@bullshome.com.