Category: Chicago Bulls Blog

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Carlos Boozer scores 31, Bulls beat Magic

Carlos Boozer

The Chicago Bulls haven’t felt like themselves for much of the past few weeks.

They’re hoping a much-needed win is the first step in finding their way back.

Carlos Boozer had a season-high 31 points and 11 rebounds, Luol Deng scored 23 points and the Bulls hung on to beat the Orlando Magic 96-94 on Wednesday night.

Taj Gibson added 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls, who played without center Joakim Noah. Chicago was outrebounded 37-34 in Noah’s absence but exploited an injury-plagued Magic front court, outscoring them 42-32 in the paint.

Jameer Nelson missed a leaning jumper in the closing seconds that would have tied it, sending Orlando to its seventh straight loss overall and fifth in a row at home…

Nelson returned to the lineup after missing two games with a sore hip and scored a season-high 32 points. Nik Vucevic finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Arron Afflalo added 19 points for the Magic.

— Reported by Kyle Hightower of the Associated Press

Derrick Rose will travel, but still not close to return for Bulls

Derrick Rose

Derrick Rose will travel on the Chicago Bulls’ two-game trip to Orlando and Miami, but coach Tom Thibodeau downplayed expectations of a more expedited return from knee surgery.

“You don’t want to rule out anything,” Thibodeau said. “But he has to go through regular practice for an extended amount of time before we even think about him playing.”

The general guess-timate on Rose has been a return after the All-Star break, sometime in late February or early March.

“Whether it’s after the All-Star break, two weeks after, it’s when he’s ready,” Thibodeau said. “We don’t want to put a date on it. When he makes it through practices for an extended amount of time and there’s not any soreness the next day, we’ll make a decision then. He’s got a long way to go.”

— Reported by KC Johnson of the Chicago Tribune

Bobcats end 18-game losing streak with win over Bulls

Kemba Walker

Squandering a healthy lead is nothing new to the Charlotte Bobcats – hanging onto one is.

Kemba Walker had 18 points and eight rebounds, and the Bobcats ended an 18-game losing streak with a 91-81 win over the Chicago Bulls on Monday.

Gerald Henderson added 16 points and reserve Ben Gordon had 15 to help Charlotte snap the second-longest skid in team history. It was the Bobcats’ first win in their last 10 road games.

”We’re a desperate team right now,” Henderson said. ”This losing streak has been very tough on us.”

Luol Deng scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Chicago. Carlos Boozer also had a double-double with 19 points and 14 boards.

Charlotte fended off several rallies by the Bulls, who never held a lead, to win for the first time since Nov. 24…

The new year couldn’t come quick enough for Charlotte (8-23), which narrowly avoided posting a 0-16 calendar month for the second time in 2012. The Bobcats went 0-16 in April to end last season on a franchise-worst 23-game losing streak.

The eight wins already surpasses Charlotte’s seven wins all of last season…

Bobcats F Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (scratched right cornea) did not play after being poked in the eye during a 98-95 loss to New Orleans on Saturday.

— Reported by Travis Miller of the Associated Press

Omer Asik helps Rockets smoke Bulls 120-97

Omer Asik

Omer Asik enjoyed his trip back to Chicago. And he got help from James Harden and Jeremy Lin.

Asik returned to the United Center and had a double-double with 20 points and 18 rebounds [plus three blocks] to lead the Houston Rockets to a 120-97 win over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night.

It was his first trip to Chicago since signing with the Rockets in the offseason…

Harden scored 26 points and Lin added 20 points and 11 assists for Houston, which had all five starters score in double figures.

Chandler Parsons scored 23 points and Marcus Morris had 10.

Houston has won six of seven…

Lin capped a 14-2 run midway through the quarter with a drive and a layup to make it 55-34. He scored 12 in the second quarter and Harden had 13…

Nate Robinson led the Bulls with 27 points, and Marco Belinelli scored 15…

Harden, fourth in the league in scoring, followed up two strong performances – 37 points against Detroit and 45 against Atlanta – with another strong game. He was 7 for 13 from the field and 11 for 13 from the free throw line.

Houston improved to 11-2 against the Eastern Conference.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Melo, 3 others ejected as Bulls beat Knicks

Melo, 3 others ejected as Bulls beat Knicks

Bottled up by the Bulls and baffled by the officials, Carmelo Anthony expected to spend the final minutes of the Knicks’ loss alone in the locker room.

Turns out the early exodus of Knicks was just beginning.

Coach Mike Woodson and center Tyson Chandler were also ejected from the foul-filled game, and Chicago beat New York for the second time this season, 110-106 on Friday night.

Chandler and Bulls counterpart Joakim Noah were tossed after a fourth-quarter altercation, shortly after Woodson had been ejected following his second technical. He drew a loud ovation during his walk to the back from Knicks fans who angrily booed the officiating for much of the second half…

Luol Deng had season highs of 29 points and 13 rebounds for the Bulls despite briefly leaving the game with an injured left shoulder. Marco Belinelli added 22 points as Chicago won for the fourth time in five games.

Anthony finished with 29 points on 10-of-25 shooting, ending his streak of four straight 30-point games. The Knicks lost for the second time in three home games after winning their first 10.

Noah finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in completely outplaying Chandler, who took only one shot and was limited to five points and eight boards…

Kirk Hinrich had 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the Bulls, who were totally shutting the Knicks down until allowing 45 mostly meaningless points in the fourth quarter after Chicago had led by 25 in the third…

[J.R.] Smith had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks, who fell to 19-7. Their 19 wins through 25 games was bettered only twice in franchise history, when they were 23-2 in 1969-70 and 20-5 in 1972-73. They won the NBA title both times.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Grizzlies overcome slow start to beat Bulls

mike conley

The Memphis Grizzlies were struggling early against the stingy Chicago Bulls, taking bad shots and committing turnovers.

Then the Grizzlies’ bench took over, providing the burst that helped Memphis beat the Bulls 80-71 on Monday night.

”I thought it was huge what they did,” Grizzlies guard Mike Conley said of the second-period play by the reserves. ”They came in and changed the game, changed the tempo. They got it going up and down a little bit. Got the ball movement where we like it to be.” …

Conley led Memphis with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting and four assists, while Zach Randolph added 10 points and 15 rebounds.

Rudy Gay had 12 points for Memphis but shot 5 of 13, continuing his slump. Wayne Ellington scored all 11 of his points in the second quarter, when the Grizzlies’ reserves provided the lift after a sluggish first period, when Memphis managed only 11 points for its lowest output in the opening quarter this season.

Carlos Boozer led the Bulls with 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Marco Belinelli finished with 13 points. Luol Deng and Joakim Noah had 11 points apiece for the Bulls, but Deng was 4 of 17 from the field…

Both teams shot just better than 37 percent. But Memphis was 6 of 11 from 3-point range compared to the Bulls hitting only 2 of 11 long-range shots. The Memphis frontline of Gay, Randolph and Marc Gasol were a combined 10 of 34, while the Bulls starting frontline of Deng, Boozer and Noah made 16 of 42.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Clippers beat Bulls for 7th straight win

chris paul

Chris Paul liked the way the Los Angeles Clippers grinded out an ugly win when they were challenged.

Blake Griffin had 22 points and 10 rebounds to help Los Angeles beat the Chicago Bulls 94-89 on Tuesday night for its seventh straight victory, the team’s longest winning streak in two decades.

Marco Belinelli hit a 3-pointer with less than a minute left to cut Chicago’s deficit to 89-87, but Paul answered with a floater in the lane, then iced it with three free throws down the stretch as Los Angeles snapped the Bulls’ season-high three-game winning streak.

Paul finished with 18 points and four assists, below the 20 and 10 he averaged in his first dozen games against Chicago but enough for the Clippers to sweep the season series for the first time since 2009-10…

The Clippers (15-6) are on their longest winning streak since an eight-game run during the 1991-92 season. They have won 10 of 12 at the United Center.

Carlos Boozer scored 24 points and pulled down 13 rebounds for the Bulls, who had won five of six overall…

Griffin had 26 points and 10 rebounds in his team’s 101-80 win over Chicago on Nov. 17 in Los Angeles.

Joakim Noah finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds. It marked the first time the Bulls have lost when both Noah and Boozer have double-doubles (8-1).

Luol Deng was held to just eight points, his lowest output since a seven-point performance in Chicago’s season opener.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Bulls end Knicks 5-game winning streak

marco belinelli

Leave it to Tom Thibodeau’s vaunted defense to crash the Knicks’ 3-point party.

Marco Belinelli and Luol Deng scored 22 points apiece as the Chicago Bulls beat the Knicks 93-85 on Saturday night, snapping New York’s five-game winning streak.

Belinelli matched a career high by playing 45 minutes and sparked the Bulls at the outset with 15 points in the first quarter. Deng led the way at the end, getting 10 points in the fourth…

Raymond Felton led the Knicks with 27 points, matching his season high set on Thursday in a victory at Miami. However, Felton was just 9 for 30 from the field, exceeding his career high for field-goal attempts by six shots…

Tyson Chandler had 14 points and 18 rebounds for the Knicks, who shot a season-low 32.1 percent from the floor and matched a season high with 15 turnovers. It was also a season-low point total for New York (14-5)…

Carlos Boozer had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Chicago. One night after putting up career highs of 30 points and 23 rebounds in a win at Detroit, Noah just missed an odd triple-double, getting 10 points and 11 rebounds and committing a career-worst nine turnovers.

The Knicks again played without leading scorer Carmelo Anthony, who missed his second straight game because of stitches in the middle finger of his left hand. Anthony, who is third in the NBA with 26.4 points per game, was hurt in a win over Charlotte on Wednesday.

Former Knicks guard Nate Robinson had 14 points, six rebounds and eight assists off the bench for Chicago, which has won five of its last six and 18 of its last 21 at home against New York.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Joakim Noah unleashes monster game in Bulls win over Pistons

Joakim Noah

Joakim Noah was standing near the scorer’s table during the first half, visibly upset with his team’s performance while he was waiting to check back in.

The Detroit Pistons were outworking his Chicago Bulls – but Noah’s big night was only beginning.

”I just felt like our energy was just low, from the start of the game,” Noah said. ”It’s just human reaction, when there’s not a lot of people in the stands, to kind of put your guard down. I think we regrouped pretty well.”

Noah had 30 points and 23 rebounds [plus six assists, two steals and two blocks], setting career highs in both categories and helping the Bulls beat Detroit for the 16th straight time, 108-104 on Friday night.

”It’s crazy to have numbers like that,” Noah said. ”I knew I was missing a lot of tips in the beginning of the game. In some arenas, they count as rebounds, and some other arenas, they don’t. I’m happy they counted.”

Chicago trailed by as many as 17 points in the second quarter, but the Bulls rallied toward the end of the half and took control in the fourth.

All five Chicago starters finished in double figures, including Carlos Boozer with 24 points. Luol Deng and Marco Belinelli scored 16 apiece.

— Reported by Noah Trister of the Associated Press