Deng, Hinrich Return But Bulls Fall

The Bulls won the first quarter of last night’s game against the Portland Trailblazers, but it was downhill from there.  Forward Travis Outlaw was too much to handle, scoring 33 points in the contest.  Greg Oden exposed the Bulls’ shaky frontcourt by scoring 17 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.  In a game where Brandon Roy struggled, netting just 11 points, the Bulls were unable to capitalize, falling 109-05.

Drew Gooden posted another solid effort for the Bulls, scoring 20 points and pulling down nine boards.  Derrick Rose had rough shooting night, but was able to dish out 10 assists.  The team did see two of their best players, Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich, return from injury, though.  Hinrich did not do a whole lot, but he’s been out for an extended period of time, so that’s to be expected.  Deng, on the other hand, had a very encouraging performance off the bench.  In just 22 minutes, Deng scored 14 points and grabbed five rebounds.   He made just three of his 10 field goal attempts, but those 10 shots along with his eight attempts from the line show that he’s being aggressive.  If Deng can get his level of play back to where it was two seasons ago, the Bulls can certainly make a push for the playoffs.

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