Derrick Rose shines as Chicago Bulls down the Indiana Pacers 99-86
Derrick Rose scored a game-high 29 points and 10 rebounds, as the Chicago Bulls downed the Indiana Pacers 99-86 on Friday night at Conseco Fieldhouse.
An excited Rose said after the game, "I couldn't wait to play. We let the last game slip because of our defence. Tonight, we made sure that we played with a lot of intensity at the beginning of the game and made sure that we
played defence."
Luol Deng did a good job of staying active despite only taking six field goal attempts. Deng finished with 17 points and made some nice hustle plays. Carlos Boozer came off the bench and contributed 14 points and six rebounds,
as Chicago snapped a three-game road losing streak. Centre Kurt Thomas scored just four points but grabbed a season-high 18 rebounds for the victors.
Danny Granger did all he could and scored a team-high 22 points for Indiana, who lost their 21st game of the 2010-11 season. Mike Dunleavy posted 13 while Tyler Hansbrough finished with 13 in the defeat. Jeff Foster
had a season-high 15 rebounds for Indiana, who struggled from the field throughout the game, finishing with 32.6 percent shooting (30 of 92) from the field.
Indiana Head Coach Jim O'Brien was critical of his team after the game. He said, "We dug a hole the first half. We weren't sharp at all. Our defence wasn't sharp, we missed too many lay-ups and point-blank shots, and when we
tried to mount a comeback, Derrick Rose took over and made sure there was not going to be a comeback tonight."
First Quarter
Chicago entered the home court in a bid to snap their three-game road losing streak, and managed to come out on top.
The Pacers led 17-12 with over five minutes remaining, but the Bulls shot 13-of-26 from the field in the first quarter to take a 28-24 lead into the second quarter.
Second Quarter
The Bulls took control of the game with a 10-0 run late in the second quarter. Boozer finished the half with 10 points.
Pacers point guard Darren Collison missed all four of his second-quarter shots and finished 4-for-16 from the field. The Bulls led by 12 (53-41) at half time, and Indiana never cut the lead below nine points after that.
Third Quarter
In the third quarter, the Pacers shot only 6-of-23 from the field, but responded with an eight-of-nine effort from the free throw line. On the other hand the Bulls extended their lead to 60-46 on a breath-taking three-pointer
by Rose.
Indiana fought hard, trimmed their deficit to nine points and had a fast break going, but Rose scored 12 points to help the Bulls lead 79-63 at the end of the period.
Fourth Quarter
Leading by 16 points, the fourth quarter was nothing more than a formality for the visiting team. Thomas opened the quarter with a mid-range jumper to widen the lead to a game-high 18 points. Chicago’s advantage never fell below
nine down the stretch.
The Bulls shot 46 percent and committed just seven turnovers in the entire game, and received a standing ovation from the fans at the end.
Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau praised his team by saying, "We had a good balance to our offence. I thought we had a good mix of post-ups, pick-and-rolls, catch-and-shoot, and transition. When we do that, we're going to be successful."
Tags: