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?

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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?

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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.

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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.

Other than that, nothing too exciting except I did well on my NBA picks, almost undefeated if it wasn’t for Granger.

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Here is my personal cheerleader, well…

SATURDAY’S PICKS (8-1)

Chicago Bulls beat Washington Wizards 103-96…Right, the Bulls were just too big and Rose won the one-on-one match up against John Wall.

Orlando Magic beat New Jersey Nets 91-90…Right, but barely, whats going on with the Magic, they’re playing bad basketball compared to what they’re capable of.

Utah Jazz beat Charlotte Bobcats 96-95…Right, again barely, what is going on with the Jazz as well?

Indiana Pacers beat Cleveland Cavaliers 99-85…Wrong, the Cavs play well at times then are horrible the next, Indiana is showing they could be moving from the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

Miami Heat beat Toronto Raptors 109-100…Right, thought it’d be a bigger win, but it’s still a W.

New Orleans Hornets beat Portland Trailblazers 107-87…Right, Portland is stumbling, while the Hornets continue to sting.

Boston Celtics beat Memphis Grizzlies 116-110 in overtime…Right, Great game, Memphis is doing good things with their young lineup.

Milwaukee Bucks beat Golden State Warriors 79-72…Right, Warriors are falling apart, already.

San Antonio Spurs beat Philadelphia 76ers 116-93…Right…Tim Duncan and company are going to be a hard team to play with if they can stay healthy.

SUNDAY’S GAMES AND PICKS

The Atlanta Hawks and the Minnesota Timberwolves already played, so I won’t count this one. Atlanta won 111-105.

Detroit Pistons at Sacramento Kings…Pistons, they’re putting together a nice little string of wins and they have more experienced players.

San Antonio Spurs at Oklahoma City Thunder…Spurs, the Thunder can’t defend in the paint, which is where the Spurs dominate.

Houston Rockets at New York Knicks…Rockets, just not impressed with the Knicks, or the Rockets for that matter, but should win this one.

Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Lakers…Lakers, they’re too big and dominant inside and can run with the Suns if they need to.

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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.

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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.

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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)

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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.

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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.

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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

Although I’m extremely happy the Bulls bone stomped the Portland Trailblazer, I would never have imagined it, especially after the way the Bulls had to comeback against the Detroit Pistons and the Blazers were on a three game winning streak.

With that said, I’ll take the Bulls victory as a lesson to believe in my team and to be ashamed for the rest of Tuesday because of it.

Monday’s Pick Results

Chicago over Trailblazers–110-98, Wrong, I’m disgusted with my self, but thankful Luol Deng dropped a career high 40 points.

Sacramento Kings beat Toronto Raptors–111-108, Right, I’m a leading member of the King’s bandwagon.

San Antonio Spurs defeated Los Angeles Clippers–97-88–Right, Spurs are too good for the Clippers.

Tuesday’s Picks

Atlanta Hawks at Cleveland Cavaliers–Atlanta, too many athletes for the Cavs to handle.

Philadelphia 76ers at Washington Wizards–Wizards, just want to see John Wall get an NBA victory.

Boston Celtics at Detroit Pistons–Boston, the Celtics will kill them.

Minnesota Timberwolves at Miami Heat–Heat, the big three are clicking and will pounce the wolves.

Orlando Magic at New York Knicks–Magic, the Knicks are not big enough in the middle and don’t have enough shooters to match Dwight Howard, Vince Carter and company.

Portland Trailblazers at Milwaukee Bucks–Blazers, they couldn’t match the Bulls intensity, but they can match the Bucks.

Memphis Grizzlies at Los Angeles Lakers–Lakers, the Grizzlies are better than the team from last year, but the defending NBA champions are too.

MAKE YOUR PICKS: Put them in the comment box or email brandon.lachance@bullshome.com

Silly me for picking against the Lakers and the Jazz.

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The Lakers haven’t given me a reason to doubt them, but the Golden State Warriors had given me a reason to think they’re fast paced offense could take the Lakers away from their powerful low post offense; I was wrong.

Lakers over Warriors–107-83, Gasol continues to kill as he went for 26 points to stomp on the Warriors.

My other loss for the day was the Jazz dominating the Oklahoma City Thunder. Before this game, the Jazz had not only lost two games, but had been dominated by the Denver Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns, while the Thunder were undefeated with victories against the Chicago Bulls and the Detroit Pistons.

It’s only the third game in the season, but maybe the Thunder are over rated. They won against the Bulls, who are a team on the rise, but don’t have Carlos Boozer to help with the scoring load and the Pistons are not a good team besides scoring the ball. If a team has one or two premier shooters or slashers, it can beat the Pistons because they have no defense.

Behind Paul Millsap’s 30 points the Jazz destroyed the under sized Thunder in the paint. Is this a weakness bigger teams can exploit? I think it is.

Jazz over Thunder–120-99, the Jazz showed they’re still a good team after dropping their first two games.

The other two games Sunday and my picks

Miami Heat beat New Jersey Nets–101-78–Right, Miami is just too talented for the Nets.

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Dallas Mavericks beat Los Angeles Clippers–99-83–Right, same thing, Dallas is just too talented for the Clippers. It’s looking like Blake Griffin will never get a victory.

Monday’s Games

Portland Trailblazers at Chicago Bulls– I’d love to say the Bulls, but the Trailblazers have been playing at a high level and have multiple scoring options. If Boozer was in the lineup, I’d pick differently but the Bulls have only Derrick Rose to score the ball…Blazers.

Toronto Raptors at Sacramento Kings–The Kings have been playing well with their young talented nucleus, I’m going Kings.

San Antonio Spurs at Los Angeles Clippers–The Clippers will not get their first win against the Spurs, look for Duncan to own the inside.