Bulls 121 Kings 115
Derrick Rose sat in tonight's game against the Sacramento Kings (10-18) as he continues to rest his back for the spasms he has been suffering. Prior to today's game the Bulls signed Mike James to a 10 day contract. Also, Rip Hamilton rejoined the team after being away due to a death in the family. Hamilton is still at least a week away from a return. The Kings are the youngest team in the NBA, but have some good young talent. The Kings are led by DeMarcus Cousins and Tyreke Evans. The Bulls though were able to add another win at home with a final score of 121 to 115.
Luol Deng had a low scoring game against the Boston Celtics on Sunday, but came out tonight and had 23 points, 7 rebounds, 11 assists. Luol did not have a particular good shooting night percentage wise going 6-17 from the field. Luol was 9-9 from the free throw line. Luol also had his first career double digit assist game. Joakim Noah had a great game with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Noah has been increasing his scoring and rebounding each game in the last 2 weeks. Carlos Boozer finished the game with 16 points and 5 rebounds. It was good to see the starters step up with the MVP sitting on the bench. CJ Watson had 10 points and Ronnie Brewer had 6 points.
The Bulls got production off the bench from Taj Gibson, Kyle Korver, and John Lucas. Gibson had 15 points, Korver 18, and Lucas 9. Korver was also 4-5 from the 3PT line. The Bulls scored a team season high with 121 points.
The Bulls did allow the Kings to score 115 points which is unusual for this defensive first team. DeMarcus Cousins scored 28 points and 17 rebounds. Cousins is a player with a high ceiling. He has a attitude ,but if he can get himself under control he could be a premier center in the game. Tyreke Evans enjoyed a Rose-less game scoring 27 points and 8 rebounds. Marcus Thornton had a big game with 23 points and was 3-6 from the 3PT line. Donte Green gave them 10 points off the bench.
With tonight's win the Bulls move to 24-7 on the season. Tonight's win also secured Coach Tom Thibodeau as the head coach of the Eastern Conference All-Star team. Coach Thibodeau on being named All-Star coach, "Anytime you can participate in something like that, it's always good. It's an honor. I look forward to it."
Joakim Noah said, "I just hope they don’t have to do defensive slides and closeouts during the game." Kyle Korver was excited for his coach and turned it into a joke, "It’s great. I just hope he doesn’t play Lu and Derrick 40 minutes."
The Bulls have the Boston Celtics coming into the United Center on Thursday. The Bulls will look to get rid of the bad taste of Sundays loss by beating the Celtics. Judging from Derrick's comments he will be back soon, but most likely not till the weekend or early next week.
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