Chicago Bulls win second-straight behind Luol Deng’s 40 points
After dropping their season-opener, the Chicago Bulls bagged their second-straight victory when they hammered the Portland Trail Blazers, 110-98, behind Luol Deng’s big night on Monday 1
November at the United Center.
The 25-year old forward, who averaged 11.5 points a game on a combined 7-for-23 shooting from the field in their first two games, burned the Blazers with a career-high 40 points on a 14-for-19
clip from the floor.
"During the first two games, Deng didn't shoot the ball well, but I thought he played well," said Chicago head coach Tom Thibodeau. "He's moving without the ball, he's cutting hard, he's
making the extra pass and he's playing really good defense. Tonight, he was terrific offensively."
Deng, who racked up 16 points in the first and third period and was 3-for-5 from beyond-the-arc, surpassed his previous best of 38 points, which also came against the Trail Blazers on 26
March 2007.
"I think it's just a coincidence," said Deng when asked if he's finding it easy to score against Portland. "We just shot the ball well. We moved it and shot it well. You're going to get shots
in different places in our offence, so you've got to be ready."
Derrick Rose picked off from where he left during their previous game as the superstar point guard scored 16 points and dished out 13 assists, tying his previous best set last March against
the Utah Jazz, while Joakim Noah finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
"My whole goal was to see how I could control the game," Rose said. "They were keeping two people on me, so I had to pass the ball. Tonight, we were knocking in shots."
The Bulls came out firing on all cylinders in the opening period as they built an early 32-21 lead at the end of the first quarter behind Deng’s 16-point explosion. They continued to sizzle
in the second quarter and led by as much as 17 points, 40-23, but the Blazers managed to trim the lead down to nine, 56-47, at the half.
The Blazers, who came into the game with a perfect 3-0 record, had a big second-half surge in their first three games, but the Bulls clamped down on them and held on to their lead en route
to their second-straight win.
LaMarcus Aldridge scored a season-best 33 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Brandon Roy chipped in 17 points, but their efforts were not enough as the Blazers’ defence failed to contain
the offensive onslaught of the Bulls, who shot 60.6 per cent from the field.
"We definitely need to play with more energy," said Portland coach Nate McMillan. "Our first unit gave up 32 points in the first and third quarters. Defensively, I think we're playing soft."
Prior to the game, the jam-packed United Center held a moment of silence for former Blazers player and assistant coach Maurice Lucas, who died on Sunday 31 October at the age of 58 after
a long fight with bladder cancer.
Tags: