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Gibson's solid play enables ailing Boozer to rest

ATLANTA — Taj Gibson played more minutes in Game 3 than starter Carlos Boozer.

Did coach Tom Thibodeau finally give in to fan pressure and bench the injured Boozer? Certainly not, but when Gibson played so well Friday in Atlanta, it provided an opportunity for Boozer to rest the turf toe injury on his right foot.

“I thought Carlos played well tonight,” Thibodeau said. “I think he's starting to feel better. We need him. He's our most proven player in the postseason.”

Boozer helped the Bulls get off to a quick start, scoring all 6 of his points early in the first quarter. Boozer picked up his second foul and went to the bench at the 4:15 mark.

Gibson took advantage of his added playing time, finishing with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks. Gibson had the Bulls bench on its feet midway through the second quarter when he finished a pair of hook shots in the lane. The second came after a fancy pass from point guard C.J. Watson and put the Bulls up 42-29 with seven minutes left in the first half. The Bulls outrebounded Atlanta 47-34.

“Going after every rebound, that's one thing we've been keying on all year long,” Gibson said. “People don't understand that we're a physical team down low and we go after every rebound. We just played with a lot of heart and a lot of aggression.”

Boozer ended up playing 22 minutes, eight in the second half when the Bulls kept a comfortable lead. After the game, Boozer might have been the most upbeat player in the locker room.

“It was amazing. He (Gibson) was playing great,” Boozer said. “He was getting offensive rebounds. He was getting open shots. He was playing great ‘D.' Then you saw the lead go from 10, 12 points to 15 points. It was great to watch. You saw how excited we got on the bench. We love it. We're a team. All we care about is winning.

“We've got a great team. It's fun to watch everybody succeed. I don't know how many guys we had in double figures. It wasn't very many, but who cares? We won.”