Bulls vs. Nuggets

If the Chicago Bulls can beat the Denver Nuggets tonight at the United Center, they will move 3 games over.500 in November for the first time since 1997-98. The Bulls are off to a fast start, which has not happened often since the championship era. Chicago’s Luol Deng plans to continue the Bulls’ success by securing a win over the Nuggets. Last Thursday, Deng matched up against Cleveland’s LeBron James, then took on Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace (currently the NBA’s leading rebounder). Tonight, Deng has the tough task to guard Denver’s Carmelo Anthony, the NBA’s No. 2 scorer (31.4 points per game). After Monday’s practice, Deng told the press, “My job is to make it difficult on him and just do whatever we’ve got to do to get the win. I think the main thing is as a team, we’ve done a good job of guarding those guys.” Against the Bobcats, Deng played all but 48 seconds. Chicago coach Vinny Del Negro said he doesn’t expect Deng to play 47 minutes every night. The coach explained that he wanted to match Deng up against Wallace, who played 45 minutes against the Bulls. Deng  finished the game with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 steals. He plans to duplicate those numbers against the Nuggets in tonight’s contest.

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Noah leads Bulls past Bobcats 93-90

Late in the third quarter of the 93-90 comeback victory of the Charlotte Bobcats, Chicago’s Joakim Noah got the ball in the post, made a nifty move toward the baseline, turned and released a hook shot that swished through the hoop. Noah was making moves he hasn’t done in the past. After the game, a reporter asked Noah where his hook shot came from. He said, “A lot of work. It came from a lot of hours in the gym this summer.” Noah went 10-for-12 and earned a career-high 21 points. He also registered 16 rebounds and had  four blocked shots. Chicago’s John Salmons stated that he’s  impressed with Noah this season. Noah has become one of the top 12 centers in the NBA. Although he ’s not a big-time scorer, Noah does things that doesn’t get noticed in the box score. He is stronger this season and can hold his ground against big centers, which was evident against Shaquille O’Neal of the Cleveland Cavaliers on November 5. Since Tyrus Thomas has been sidelined for the next four to six weeks due to a fractured left forearm, Noah assumes a larger role on the team. He played over 40 minutes against the Bobcats, and displayed he’s up to the challenge.

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Bulls hold off Cavaliers 86-85

Cleveland’s LeBron James had a chance to win the game against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night, but he missed a shot with 0.2 seconds left. The Bulls edged the Cavaliers 86-85 and improved  their shooting percentage to 42 percent. What’s more important is that the Bulls are winning games at the defensive end, something they were trying to improve on since the beginning of the season. Chicago point guard Derrick Rose said, “It’s huge. Our chemistry on offense isn’t really there yet. But you have time for that. On defense, if you can continue to stop people you’ll be fine.” With 1:44 remaining, Rose hit a floater and gave the Bulls a four point lead. 11 seconds later, James responded with a 3-pointer, which were Cleveland’s last points of the night. After that, the Bulls posted three straight stops. During that span, Chicago defended Mo Williams on a three point attempt and then denied James a chance at the hoop. Deng admitted that it was tough covering James. He said, “He’s a tough cover, but I knew my help would be there. I just couldn’t give him a straight-line drive.” Deng, who had 15 points, forced James to the left and Joakim Noah arrived to form a wall at the rim. James’ miss went out of bounds and Noah was delighted the ball didn’t go out off him.

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Bulls’ Tyrus Thomas will not play against Cleveland

 Tyrus Thomas will not be with the Chicago Bulls when they face the Cleveland Cavaliers. The forward continues to battle a nasty illness and did not travel with his team. Chicago coach Vinny Del Negro told the press that Thomas could join the team for Thursday night’s game after doctors evaluated him. When reporters pressed the issue, the coach admitted the chance was remote. Thomas reported that he’s battling a high fever and a sore throat, as well as nausea. Del Negro said, “He showed up (Wednesday) morning still pretty sick. We want to make sure he gets healthy.” Thomas missed Tuesday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks, but did show up at the Berto Center before his teammates arrived for practice to visit the athletic trainer Fred Tedeschi. The Bulls have isolated Thomas from his teammates so he can’t infect them. Chicago has assigned Luol Deng to cover LeBron James in Thursday’s contest. Although Deng recorded his first 20-20 game on Tuesday, he knows covering James will be no small task. He called James “arguably the best player” in the game. Deng continued to say playing against James is a challenge since he is so “big, quick, and versatile.”

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Bulls 83, Bucks 81

Luol Deng registered 24 points and had a career-high 20 rebounds, and the Chicago Bulls (who were down by 18 at one point) bounced back to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 83-81 on Tuesday night. The enthusiastic Deng told the press “I’m happy that I’m healthy. Happy to be out there playing. … I missed playing. I’m happy I’m out there with my teammates and not out on the side watching them.” Although the Bulls played poorly in the first half, they were able to secure a victory late in the game. The Bucks had a chance to win the game after Joakim Noah missed two free throws, but Ersan Llyasova missed a 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds remaining. The Bulls were thrilled to pull off the victory. In the fourth quarter, Derrick Rose scored 10 points to help lift his team past Milwaukee. With 1:28 left of the game, Rose’s dunk bumped the Bulls’ lead to 82-75, but the guard coughed up a cost ly turnover in the final minute. He threw an errant pass and Brandon Jennings capitalized off it, which made it 82-81 with 22 seconds left of the game. After that Noah controlled the ball and quickly got fouled, but he missed both free throws with 13.7 seconds remaining. The Bucks were within two but fortunately for the Bulls they couldn’t get the game winning basket.

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Bulls Derrick Rose not playing 100 percent

Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose wants to play like his old self. He was the last player to leave the floor after practice on Monday at the Berto Center in Deerfield. Rose told the press “I just have to get in the rhythm. My ankle is fine, just stiff. It gets frustrating during the games. As you can see, I’m the last to leave (practice). Yeah, I’m in a hurry. I’m just trying to get my rhythm back. That’s the big thing.” The guard is shooting 13-for-35 from the field (37 percent) in three games. Chicago coach Vinny Del Negro said, “Derrick is in better physical shape every game. Right now, maybe it is a little mental. We need him to play defense and run the team. He missed three weeks.” Rose’s teammate John Salmons believes D-Rose will be fine. We will find out how productive Rose will be when the Bulls (1-2) host the Milwaukee Bucks tonight. The Bucks will be without their star guard Michael Redd. He is expected to miss the next two weeks due to a sore left knee that required off-season surgery. The 21-year-old Rose answered some questions regarding his future off the court. He told reporters he likes the movies and Vince Vaughn’s dry humor. The guard sees himself in a movie in the future.

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Heat 95, Bulls 87

The Chicago Bulls blew a winable road game against the Miami Heat on Sunday at the American Airlines Arena because of 40.9 percent shooting and just 17 fourth-quarter points. But Bulls guard Derrick Rose saw it differently. He believes the Bulls fell 95-87 to the Heat because he did not play as well as he should of. Rose said, “I missed a lot of layups. Monday, if we’re off (from practice) or whatever, I’m going to go back to my Memphis days and shoot a whole gang of layups. I have to get back into rhythm.” The guard continued to say he missed a lot of shots he usually makes such as floaters and layups. He also noted that you can practice all you want and condition all you want, but there is nothing like a game. Even though Rose blamed himself for the loss, other key players stepped up in a great effort to try to beat the Heat. John Salmons, for example, snapped out of his two-game shooting slump and finished the game with 17 points. Salmons swooshed a 3-pointer with 3:54 remaining and the Bulls led 83-82. After that, the Bulls fell apart. Miami’s Dwyane Wade, who led the Heat with 25 points, sank a jumper. Rose missed a layup. Udonis Haslem buried another jumper. Salmons had a layup blocked, and Kirk Hinrich missed the follow. Although the Bulls fought  back to 89-87, Wade forced Rose to throw an awkward pass to Hinrich, which caused a turnover with 38.2 remaining.

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Bulls Top Spurs 92-85 in season opener

Luol Deng scored 17 points and added nine rebounds, Derrick Rose registered 13 points, Tyrus Thomas had 13 points, and the Chicago Bulls defeated the San Antonio Spurs 92-85 in their season opener on Thursday. Rose also contributed seven rebounds and seven assists for Chicago. Bulls’ Kirk Hinrich played well coming off the bench and recorded 14 points. Joakim Noah had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls. San Antonio’s Tim Duncan scored a game-high of 28 points and 16 rebounds for his team. The only other Spur player who had double figures was Manu Ginobili, he finished with 12 points. San Antonio (1-1), won their match-up against New Orleans in their season opener on Wednesday. The Bulls (1-0) went on a seven point scoring run in the third, which Noah closed with two free throws for a 58-52 lead. “The Bulls went on another seven-point binge later in the quarter that propelled the Bulls to a double digit lead. Hinrich scored a basket with just over two minutes left to make it 72-58.” In the fourth quarter, Duncan swooshed a free throw and Rose hit a jumper to give the Bulls a game-high 14 point lead at 79-65. The Bulls will be in Boston on Friday to take on the Celtics, who eliminated Chicago from the playoffs in seven games just six months ago.

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Will the Chicago Bulls be a better playoff team this season?

It has been almost six months since the Chicago Bulls lost to the Boston Celtics in a playoff series that went to game 7.  Since that May 2 game, the Bulls have lost Ben Gorden to free agency, and drafted forwards James Johnson and Jaj Gibson. Chicago believes that both players will improve on the promise displayed in that series against the Celtics last season. The Bulls will be able to show off what they have on Thursday night, when they take on the San Antonio Spurs at the United Center. On Friday, the Bulls will travel to Boston to do battle with a healthy Kevin Garnett this time. If the Bulls want to be a better playoff team this season, they must play better defense. Even though it’s only preseason, the Bulls led the league in allowing just 40.3 percent shooting. Chicago coach Vinny Del Negro told the press “We’re better defensively. The trust factor takes time to build. The communication and rotations have gotten sharper. Now it’s a matter of putting that in games that matter and trusting your teammates. Guys are putting in the effort. Usually, when you do that, good things happen.” If Chicago can improve their defense this season they might be able to go deeper in the postseason.

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How many games can the Bulls win this season?

Many Chicago Bulls fans are wondering if their team can improve on their 41-41 record from a year ago. It’s going to take a while to get a good read on this Bulls team because of point guard Derrick Rose’s ankle injury. The guard admitted that it’s unlikely he will play major minutes in the first few games of the regular season. The absence of Rose during the preseason gave other players on the team a chance to step up their game, especially Tyrus Thomas. “My outlook for the Bulls’ season? Similar to a year ago: a record around .500 and an early out in the playoffs. The Eastern Conference isn’t loaded but still features formidable hurdles.” A healthy Kevin Garnett registered 13 points and 10 rebounds, Rasheed Wallace added 12 points, and Paul Pierce had 23 points to lead the Boston Celtics past the Cleveland Cavaliers in their season opener on Tuesday. Also noteworthy was the Wizards 102-91 victory at Dallas. Gilbert Arenas had 29 points for the Wizards. So the Bulls will likely face tough eastern opponents like the two teams mentioned above. “Put me down for a 42-40 final Bulls record, with an improving Rose and Thomas offsetting the departure of Ben Gordon.”

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