The AP reports: With one teammate out with an injury and another in foul trouble, the Dallas Mavericks needed a special effort from star Dirk Nowitzki. And Nowitzki delivered with 44 points—14 in overtime—to send the Mavericks to a 115-114 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night. Jason Terry, Dallas’ No. 2 scorer at 20.2 points per game, will be out for an extended stretch after sustaining a broken bone in his left hand in the first half. Josh Howard, who spent long stretches on the bench because of fouls, finished with 13 points, almost five below his average… Ben Gordon scored 28 points, Thomas added 23 points and 12 rebounds, and rookie Derrick Rose had 22 points and nine assists for the Bulls. Jose Juan Barea came off the bench to score 20 points for Dallas.
Category: Chicago Bulls Blog
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Derrick Rose rocks, Bulls beat Hornets 107-93
The AP reports: With Chris Paul sidelined for his first full game with a strained right groin, Derrick Rose scored 21 points and the Chicago Bulls handed the struggling Hornets their fourth straight loss, 107-93 on Wednesday night… Ben Gordon added 19 points for the Bulls, who won for the fourth time in five games—all on the road. David West led New Orleans with 24 points and 14 rebounds, Peja Stojakovic scored 24 points, and Devin Brown had 17. New Orleans showed some fight in the fourth quarter, getting its deficit down to 10 with 4:01 to go, but simply could not catch the Bulls, who had six players reach double digits in points and shot 56 percent, the highest field-goal percentage by a Hornets opponent this season.
Yao scores 28, Rockets beat Bulls 107-100
The AP reports: Yao Ming scored 28, Luis Scola matched a career high with 18 rebounds and Tracy McGrady added 16 points in the Rockets’ 107-100 win over Chicago. Aaron Brooks scored 18 off the bench for the Rockets, who’ve won six straight and 11 of 12 games against the Bulls… Luol Deng scored a season-high 28 and Ben Gordon scored 20 for Chicago, which had a three-game winning streak snapped… Derrick Rose had 12 points and seven assists in his first game since spraining his left foot in the Bulls’ 122-111 win in Phoenix on Saturday.
Rockets notes from win over Bulls
The Houston Rockets took a 107-100 win over the Chicago Bulls tonight, extending Houston’s overall winning streak over Chicago to six games.
Houston never relinquished the lead tonight after scoring the first five points of the game. The Rockets have now gone five games this season where they have not trailed in the contest.
The Rockets, who outscored the Warriors by a 48-22 (+26) margin in the paint in the previous game, posted a 48-38 (+10) edge in the paint over the Bulls tonight.
Yao Ming recorded 28 points (9-12 FG, 10-10 FT), eight rebounds and four blocked shots. Yao had gone three prior games played without a blocked shot (1/23/09-1/31/09). Tonight also marked Yao’s second time this season to be perfect from the free throw line with at least 10 attempts: 13-for-13 at Cleveland (12/23/08).
Luis Scola had 13 points and a career-high-tying 18 rebounds (career-high-tying 14 defensive). He now has 17 double-digit rebounding performances this season after notching just 14 over his entire rookie season of 2007-08. Scola set his career high in rebounds with 18 (13 defensive) vs. Minnesota (3/26/08) and equaled that with 18 (career-best 14 defensive) vs. Indiana (11/26/08).
Tracy McGrady returned to the lineup tonight after missing the last game vs. Golden State (1/31/09) with a sprained left ankle. He notched 16 points (7-14 FG) and six assists, ending the longest active streak of consecutive 20-point games against Chicago at 15 straight, which dated back to his time with Orlando. The next closest is Denver’s Carmelo Anthony with eight consecutive 20-point performances against the Bulls.
Ron Artest finished with 10 points (5-9 FG) and six assists. Artest was also 0-for-3 from downtown, ending his streak of contests with at least one 3-point field goal made at 24 straight games he had played.
Aaron Brooks added 18 points (6-12 FG, 3-6 3FG) off the bench, giving him 25 double-digit scoring performances in 2008-09.
Luol Deng, who registered 28 points tonight, began the game with a 12-point first quarter. It marked the best opening-quarter point total by a Houston opponent since a 13-point performance by Josh Smith at Atlanta (1/3/09). Sacramento’s John Salmons also netted 13 points over the opening 12 minutes at Houston (12/19/08), which stands as the most first-quarter points by an opponent at Toyota Center this season.
Tyrus Thomas recorded 14 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and three. Thomas now has eight double-doubles on the season. Thomas also tied his season high in rebounds (previously recorded vs. Philadelphia on 12/2/08).
2009 All-Star Skills Challenge participants
A new PlayStation Skills Challenge champion will be crowned as the New Jersey Nets’ Devin Harris, the Orlando Magic’s Jameer Nelson, the San Antonio Spurs’ Tony Parker and the Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose will take the floor on Feb. 14, as part of NBA All-Star Saturday Night at US Airways Center in Phoenix.
My initial prediction is that Jameer Nelson will win it.
Why? Because he has the most to prove.
This is the season that Nelson put himself on the map. He has faced years of doubt and was often considered to be more suitable as a backup than a starter.
Devin Harris is having a breakout season too. But he hasn’t faced years orf criticism and doubt like Nelson has.
Rose and Parker can win it, too. If they want.
Anyone can take it. But even though it’s a minor event I bet Nelson wants it the most.
Anthony Randolph fires agent B.J. Armstrong
The San Francisco Chronicle (Janny Hu) reportS: In the middle of a rocky rookie season, Anthony Randolph has fired agent B.J. Armstrong. “My people and I decided it was the best for me,” said Randolph, who spent time with his family in Dallas on the road trip. “B.J.’s a great agent, but we decided this was best.” Randolph filed the official paperwork last week and said he is in the process of selecting a new agent. Armstrong, an ex-NBA player, also represents No. 1 pick Derrick Rose.
Gordon, Rose each score 26 as Bulls beat Suns
The AP reports: The Bulls their third straight on a Western trip, beating the Phoenix Suns 122-111 Saturday night. Ben Gordon and Derrick Rose each scored 26 points for Chicago, which never trailed and fended off several Phoenix rallies… Leandro Barbosa led the Suns with a season-high 32 points. Grant Hill scored 19, Shaquille O’Neal 18, Steve Nash had 15 points and 10 assists, and Amare Stoudemire and Jason Richardson each scored 12. Luol Deng added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls, Kirk Hinrich had 15 points, and Andres Nocioni and Thabo Sefalosha 11 apiece.
Gordon, Deng help Bulls get past Kings 109-88
The AP reports: Ben Gordon and Luol Deng each scored 20 points for the Bulls, who defeated the Kings 109-88 for the first time since Jordan scored 33 points in that Nov. 23, 1997, game… Tyrus Thomas had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Kirk Heinrich added 11 points and seven assists for Chicago, which had lost 13 of its previous 19. The Bulls had little time to savor the win because they are facing Phoenix on Saturday with Noah likely matching up against Shaquille O’Neal instead of the Kings’ Brad Miller… Kevin Martin scored 27 points for the Kings, who have lost eight straight, matching their longest losing streak of the season. Sacramento has dropped 20 of 23 and has the worst record in the Western Conference at 10-38. John Salmons had 16 points and Jason Thompson contributed 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Kings, who shot 37 percent and had 22 turnovers.
Deng, Rose lead Bulls past Clippers 95-75
The AP reports: Luol Deng had 23 points and nine rebounds, rookie Derrick Rose added 21 points and six assists, and the Bulls blew open a close game in the third quarter to beat the short-handed Los Angeles Clippers 95-75 Wednesday night. Tyrus Thomas had 16 points and 10 rebounds, Ben Gordon had 11 points and a season-high eight assists, and Joakim Noah added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Bulls (19-27), who outscored the Clippers 26-9 in the third period to take a 20-point lead. Los Angeles wasn’t closer than 15 points after that… Rookie Eric Gordon had 19 points and seven assists to match a career high, Fred Jones added 11 points and Al Thornton had 10 points and six rebounds for the Clippers (10-35), who shot under 40 percent for the 13th time this season while losing for the 17th time in 19 games.
Jefferson scores 39 as T-Wolves beat Bulls in OT
The AP reports: Al Jefferson scored a season-high 39 points and carried the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 109-108 overtime victory over the Bulls on Sunday night for their ninth win in 11 games… Rookie Kevin Love added 19 points and a tied a career high with 15 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who completed their biggest comeback of the season… Joakim Noah—who bounced back from his scoreless performance against Toronto to score 14 points and had a career-high seven blocked shots—had the unfortunate task of guarding Jefferson for most of the night… Ben Gordon led six Chicago players in double figures with 23 points. Luol Deng had 22 points for Chicago, while Rose added 18 and Andres Nocioni 15.