Bulls use defense to end road losing streak
Considering they squandered a fourth-quarter lead at Charlotte on Wednesday and have a date with the Miami Heat waiting on Saturday, the Bulls weren't about to lose focus against the Indiana Pacers.
The Bulls (26-13) locked down on defense and snapped their three-game road losing streak with a convincing 99-86 victory at Conseco Fieldhouse.
Derrick Rose led the way with 29 points, while the Bulls' defense forced Indiana to shoot just 32.6 percent from the field.
“I couldn't wait to play,” Rose said after the game. “We let that one (in Charlotte) slip because of our defense. Tonight, we made sure that we played with a lot of intensity at the beginning of the game and made sure that we played defense.”
The game was close early, but once the Bulls built a 16-point lead late in the second quarter, they were never seriously threatened. Luol Deng added 17 points and played solid defense against Pacers leading scorer Danny Granger. The bench players combined for 34 points.
The most eye-opening stat, though, was veteran center Kurt Thomas grabbing 18 rebounds, his highest total since Nov. 30, 2007, while playing for the Seattle SuperSonics.
“We were just ready tonight,” said forward Carlos Boozer. “We did a great job of focusing on what they do offensively. We made them take tough, contested shots.”
Coach Tom Thibodeau went out of his way to praise Deng, who played all but two minutes Friday and helped force Granger into 8-for-23 shooting.
“The thing about Lu, I probably would have liked less minutes for him tonight, but he's in such great shape, he can handle the minutes,” Thibodeau told reporters in Indianapolis. “He's really the glue to the team, because whatever we need, he provides.
“Guard a range-shooting four, he goes to that guy. A primary scorer at the two or three, he guards that guy. Need rebounding, he gives you rebounding. Need scoring, he gives you scoring. Of course, adding the 3 (point shot) has opened up the floor more for Derrick.”
The Bulls improved to 17-5 since Dec. 4 and are just 2 games in the loss column behind Miami for second place in the Eastern Conference.