'Anything to win' That's the mindset of Rose, Bulls
This is why Dwight Howard wants out of Orlando.
Not that long ago, Magic vs. Bulls was an epic mismatch. Last year when Carlos Boozer made his Bulls debut after recovering from a broken hand, Orlando rolled to a 29-point win at the United Center on Dec. 1.
At that moment, the Magic had won 10 of its last 12 games against the Bulls, including the final three by a combined margin of 79 points.
Adding injury to insult, Howard twice knocked his supposed good buddy Derrick Rose out of action with hard fouls late in the 2009-10 season.
Times have changed.
The Bulls handled the Magic 97-83 on Friday at the Amway Center, marking their fourth straight win in the series and third in a row at Orlando.
Howard was a beast, posting 28 points and 15 rebounds, but he was no match for the balanced Bulls (7-1).
Rose finished with 21 points and 10 assists. Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 13 rebounds. Luol Deng scored 21, Kyle Korver knocked down 5-of-7 shots from 3-point range, Joakim Noah grabbed 10 rebounds and on it went.
“Anything to win,” Rose said. “That was the whole mindset. Just try to get out aggressive. Try to get guys going early. That was the whole game plan.”
The first quarter was an Adidas marketing rep's dream. Howard scored 14 points, Rose had 12 and sing-song time was on. Wait a minute, that line was from last year's shoe commercial starring the two all-stars.
There has been speculation the reason Howard hasn't listed the Bulls as one of his preferred trade destinations is to avoid putting his shoe company's two biggest stars on the same team. Divide and conquer still matters, in theory.
Whether that's actually true remains to be seen. There does seem to be some truth to the notion that Orlando's fast start was a product of a soft schedule. The best victory so far by the Magic (5-3) was over 3-4 Toronto.
“Quite simply we're not at that level. Not close,” Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said. “And that's OK; I'm not saying that crying or complaining. That's just the way it is. You've got to face reality. We've got to put in the work to reach that level, because right now we're not close to that level of play.”
The Bulls' lead peaked at 62-45 with 9:11 left in the third quarter. But they let Orlando right back into it by allowing 3-point baskets from three different players on the next three trips.
The lead was still 11 early in the fourth quarter before the Magic went on a 13-5 run and pulled within 80-77 on a Howard bank shot with 6:09 remaining.
Korver (18 points) answered with a 3-pointer to create some breathing room and the Bulls executed a textbook late-game plan, featuring repeated defensive stops, offensive rebounds and free throws.
Richard Hamilton suited up but did not play, sitting out for the third time in the last four games due to a sore groin. Ronnie Brewer started in his place. Backup point guard C.J. Watson missed his third straight game with a left elbow sprain.