Not since the 1997-1998 season have the Chicago Bulls (9-6) been able to come back home with a winning record from their annual circus trip.

Having gone 4-3 over the past seven games really showed the heart and determination of the team. Watching every game of this West Coast road trip brought to mind the Bulls Media Day earlier in the year and hearing Derrick Rose say, “Why can’t I be MVP of this league?”

Rose averaged 30.5 points, 6.5 assists and 5.7 rebounds during the circus trip; those are definitely MPV stats and they could have been higher but Rose sat out Nov. 26 against Denver due to a strained neck.

The Denver game was the one that got away from the Bulls and Coach Tom Thibodeau.

Earlier that day, the Bulls signed and brought in John Lucas III to back up C.J. Watson at point guard. Watson made his 34th career start against Denver and didn’t disappoint; he scored 33 points in his most impressive showing as a Chicago Bull.

The Bulls led Denver with a score of 97-96 when Lucas missed two free throws. Denver’s Carmelo Anthony got not one, but two opportunities to win the game with just seconds left and the final score read 98-97 in favor of Denver.

The last seconds of the game overshadowed performances by Watson and from Luol Deng’s and Joakim Noah’s double-double performance. This was Noah’s 11th double double of the season and his 5th straight.

After the loss, Thibodeau took full responsibility for having Lucas on the floor, citing he went with percentages rather than making a good coaching decision of putting someone who has actually played in an NBA game in the last two years.