Derrick Rose leads Chicago Bulls to 84-73 win over the New Jersey Nets
Derrick Rose scored a team-high 21 points and grabbed four rebounds as the Chicago Bulls defeated the New Jersey Nets 84-73 on Thursday night. The victory extended the Bulls winning streak to eight games; their longest in the last six years.
It was another valiant effort from 25-year-old Bulls forward Luol Deng, who added 19 points, three assists and four rebounds in the victory.
An excited Deng said after the game, "We know we still have a long way to go. We have got a great team. We have got guys who come off the bench and do a good job of carrying us. We are a deep team and we just have to keep on playing."
The 24-year-old rookie Omer Asik had a brilliant night off the bench for the Chicago Bulls. Playing in the centre-forward position, he contributed 11 points and pulled down 16 rebounds. This was the Bulls fourth straight game without forward Carlos Boozer,
who is under day-to-day observation with a sprained left ankle.
Joakim Noah returned from illness and registered five points, six assists and ten rebounds. Guard-forward Kyle Korver chipped in with 12 points for the Bulls, who are at the top of the Eastern Conference with a half-game lead over the sizzling Miami Heat.
Brook Lopez posted 22 points and eight rebounds for New Jersey, who saw their four-game winning streak snapped. Kris Humphries ended with 13 points and 16 rebounds, while Deron Williams grabbed 11 assists for the Nets, who lost their 44th game
of the 2010-11 season.
Match Analysis
The high-flying Bulls took to the court at the Prudential Centre on the back of a seven-game winning streak and stunned the home crowd with some sizzling shots around the court.
New Jersey went on a 10-3 run in the first three minutes of the opening quarter to take an initial lead. A brilliant lay-up shot by Humphries extended the Nets lead to 18-12 with four and a half minutes to go. Chicago then went on an 8-0 run in the last
two minutes to take a 24-20 advantage into the second.
Both teams played the second quarter at a crisp pace but the Bulls managed to extend their lead to 43-36 by half time. Chicago and New Jersey continued to play aggressive basketball in the third quarter but the Bulls carried a 60-50 edge into the final stanza.
The Nets opened the fourth quarter on a 9-2 run to make it 62-59 with eight minutes remaining. However, Chicago’s 15-4 spurt paved the way for them to seal another road victory.
Nets forward Humphries said that his side could not get their shooting touch back in the contest. He said, "We just could not score points tonight. You look at the stat sheet and we shot in the 30’s. We held them to a good amount of points and we just needed
to turn it up offensively, but we weren't able to do that."
Tags: