The Bulls (22-6) keep on rolling.
Even with actor Will Ferrell introducing both Chicago’s and the New Orleans Hornets’ (4-22) starting lineups during 80’s night in New Orleans Arena, the Bulls rolled to an easy 90-67 win.
With the victory, the Bulls became the first team in NBA history to win three straight games on the road – with no home games in between) by 20 points or more.
Carlos Boozer scored a game-high 18 points and pulled down six rebounds to lead Chicago. Joakim Noah finished with a double-double (13 points and 10 boards). Kyle Korver scored 12 points off the bench and reserve big man Taj Gibson finished with 14 points and six rebounds.
Derrick Rose started the game after being listed as a game-time decision with back spasms and with no need to press the issue against their struggling opponent, he finished with six points, six assists and five rebounds in 22 minutes.
The Bulls jumped out and took a 23-14 lead after the first quarter with Hornets reserve big man Chris Kaman scoring 10 of those.
The Hornets would have no answer for the Bulls relentless defense and with the win not in doubt; the game would become a question of if the Bulls would hold New Orleans to a Chicago franchise low for opponents score.
“We’re playing well right now,” said Luol Deng who finished with nine points and seven rebounds in 34 minutes. “We’re coming out early, defending, running the floor, getting the lead and playing well with it. We’ve just got to keep doing that. We’re learning how to play with a lead. There’s times when teams get a run, but we’re better at it now than we were last year. There’s a lot of times where we’ve played well and let teams get into it, and there’s times where we’ve played bad and played from behind, but I think guys are more comfortable, you’re more confident when you come out and play with a lead.”
The Bulls have struggled in the past with holding onto leads and putting teams away but – with the last three opponents having only one a total of just one game more than they have – with the goal on a championship and the schedule in their favor, there’s more emphasis on correcting mistakes of games past.
“Staying focused, knowing that we’re on a mission and we can’t take any steps back,” said Rose. “It takes us playing with a lot of energy in the beginning, getting a comfortable enough lead that, if we’re out of the game, the bench can come in and do what they have to do. We’re learning. This is something that we have to work on. The last couple of games, we’ve been jumping on people and that’s the right way to be.”
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