Boozer scores 29 as Bulls beat Thunder
The United Center has gotten louder since Carlos Boozer finally suited up for the Bulls last week. Not necessarily from fan noise, but the way Boozer talks on the court more than any Bulls player in recent memory.
Not trash talk, just communication. He's always yelling at a teammate to shoot the ball if he's open, helps direct the defense, and yells in frustration if he misses an easy shot.
He tries to keep his complaining to a minimum, but he did pick up a technical foul for barking about the lack of a call in the second half.
As it turned out, Boozer gave Bulls fans plenty to cheer about. He piled up 29 points and 12 rebounds as the Bulls coasted to a quality 99-90 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night.
“He's a heck of an offensive weapon,” center Joakim Noah said. “You can tell he's not 100 percent yet. He's getting there. He's going to be real good for us.”
The Bulls (11-8) thoroughly dominated the inside scoring, winning the points in the paint 58-32. They also outrebounded the Thunder 52-39.
After a relatively competitive first half, the Bulls outscored Oklahoma City 29-18 in the third quarter to open a 16-point advantage and were never seriously threatened in the fourth.
“I feel like I'm getting better every day, but I'm not satisfied. I'm hungry,” Boozer said. “I want more out of this. I'm not where I'm going to be at.
“We're not a team that's satisfied easy. We've got big goals and we've got big aspirations. We continue to have the mind-set of trying to get better every day.”
The Thunder (14-8) played at home Sunday night against Golden State and may not have brought its best effort.
Early in the third quarter, Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks benched both Kevin Durant and Jeff Green for nine minutes.
“We weren't playing well,” Brooks said. “I tried to make a change and see if we could manufacture more energy. It was my decision. I don't know if it worked or not, but it was just important that we figure out how to play better. That was my choice.”
Durant eventually finished with 29 points, hitting 14 of 14 free throws. Point guard Russell Westbrook produced 15 points, 7 assists and 6 turnovers.
Bulls guard Derrick Rose didn't play his best game. He hit just 3 of 13 shots from the field for 11 points and 9 assists. He finished the third quarter by draining a bank shot from two steps inside midcourt, roughly 45 feet.
“He didn't have a particularly good shooting night, but I thought he played well,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “I thought he ran the team extremely well. The only thing is, in the fourth quarter we got a little careless with the ball.”
Overall, though, this is what the Bulls had in mind when they signed Boozer as a free agent this summer for an estimated $75 million over five years.
Boozer didn't do all of his scoring near the basket, he also knocked down several jumpers. But when a team can score efficiently in the paint, everything works better. The jump shooters open up and it's easier defensively without so many fastbreaks or long rebounds
“Our whole mind-set is to get as many easy buckets in transition, get layups,” Boozer said. “Because once you get layups, they start crowding the paint and it opens up for our jump shooting.
“We've got Kyle Korver, who's the best shooter in the NBA from 3. We've got Luol Deng, who's one of the most versatile shooters. We've got guys who can hit shots, so our focus is to get layups and get open shots for everybody else.”
Deng added 19 points, while Korver got hot early and scored 13. The Bulls' defense forced the Thunder to shoot 35.4 percent from the field.
<P><B>Mike McGraw's game tracker </B></P>
<P>Bulls 99, Thunder 90</P>
<P><B>The Boozer factor: </B>Thanks to 29 points and 12 rebounds by newcomer Carlos Boozer, the Bulls dominated around the basket, winning the points in the paint 58-32. They also outrebounded Oklahoma City 52-39.</P>
<P><B>Stars crossed up:</B> Derrick Rose didn't shoot well, going 3-for-13 from the field, but he finished with 11 points and 9 assists. Thunder star Kevin Durant needed 14 free throws to reach 29 points and was benched for most of the third quarter.</P>
<P><B>Rose by Brooks:</B> Thunder coach Scott Brooks on Derrick Rose: “He can take 20 shots one game, if that's what he needs to do. Tonight, he felt others were more open and got the ball to them.”</P>