Loul Deng sizzles as Chicago Bulls down the Orlando Magic 99-90
Aiming at a payback for a humiliating 29-point home loss to Orlando Magic in December, the resurgent Chicago Bulls defeated the Orlando Magic 99-90 on Friday at United Center.
The Bulls have now beaten all the three titans of the East - Boston Celtics, Miami Heat and Orlando Magic.
Derrick Rose, the third year Bulls point guard,was suffering from stomach ulcer but even then, he rounded off with 22 points and game-high 11 assists to lead the Bulls.
"There’s no excuse," Rose said. "When I stepped out there, they were not going to say that they were going to take it easy on us because I'm sick. They are a good team."
Luol Deng finished with team-high 26 points and 8 rebounds for Chicago, who are tied with Miami Heat for second place in the conference. Carlos Boozer also chipped in with a double-double of 16 points and 16 rebounds for the Bulls.
Deng, who is averaging 17.6 points and 6.2 rebounds while playing a team-high 39 minutes per game this season said after the game.
"They beat us up pretty good last time," "The Boston’s, Orlando’s, Miami’s -- when we go out and beat those teams, we send a message that we've got a good team."
Dwight Howard was the only significant scoring threat from the Magic. The big man had yet another big night with a game-high 40 points and 15 rebounds. Gilbert Arenas also totalled 11 points in the seventeenth defeat of Orlando during the season 2010-11.
The Bulls caught a big break in the first quarter when Jameer Nelson suffered a right knee injury and did not return to the game. Chicago successfully maintained a single-point (24-23) lead at the end of the opening quarter.
The Magic recovered from their one point deficit by turning up their defensive intensity in the second. At the same time they continued to attack the Bulls rim and raced to a 51-46 lead going into the locker room.
However Loul Deng decided to step it up in the third quarter and the game changed. Deng had 16 points in the third and nearly outscored the Magic, who had 17 points. The Bulls hit their stride and took a 80-68 advantage into the final stanza.
Orlando rallied back in the fourth and with 1:28 left, they trimmed the lead to 93-90. However, Rose took over at that point and put the game away with a pair of free throws.
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