Davis' injury gives Bulls a slam-dunk victory
New Orleans' Anthony Davis had the highlight of the night Friday with his double-pump 3-pointer at the buzzer to beat Oklahoma City.
Unfortunately, Davis had a memorable highlight on Saturday against the Bulls, but it was a hard fall after a dunk in the second quarter. The Chicago native stayed in the game for a while, but didn't play in the second half due to a sore shoulder.
Davis' absence was beneficial to the Bulls, of course, and they pulled away for a 107-72 victory over the Pelicans at Smoothie King Arena, snapping a three-game losing streak.
Derrick Rose and Pau Gasol led the Bulls with 20 points each. Gasol added 15 rebounds, stretching his double-double streak to a career-high 11 games.
The bright spot for the Bulls was an impressive showing by Tony Snell, who knocked down 5 of 6 shots from 3-point range and scored a career-high 19 points.
Mike Dunleavy is hoping to return soon, but he missed his 18th straight game Saturday with a right ankle injury. Without Dunleavy, the Bulls have often lacked a reliable 3-point shooter to help spread the floor. So Snell's performance against the Pelicans was something the Bulls have been waiting for.
"I thought the tone of the game was set at the beginning," coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters after the game. "I thought Kirk Hinrich was terrific. I thought Joakim Noah was a real active power protecting the rim and Jimmy Butler. That got us going. We were able to get the ball up quickly and I thought our guys played very unselfishly."
Davis finished an alley-oop dunk off a pass from Tyreke Evans with 5:28 left in the second quarter, but lost his balance and crashed hard to the floor, landing on his shoulder and head. Davis got back to his feet after a couple minutes and stayed in the game for about a minute, then left and did not return.
"He says he's a bit sore right now," Pelicans coach Monty Williams said. "He couldn't move his arm the way he needed to, so we got him out. He kept saying he was OK."
While in the air, Davis took a slight bump from Snell, but no foul was called on the play. Davis' dunk gave New Orleans a 32-30 lead. The Bulls finished the second quarter with a 15-4 run to take a 9-point lead into halftime.
The Bulls (31-20) lost Hinrich for the second half with a turf toe injury on his left foot. There's no word on how long he might be out. With Hinrich sidelined, Snell started the third quarter and drilled a couple of 3-pointers during a 20-3 run to open the second half as the Bulls quickly pulled away.
Rookie Doug McDermott played the final four minutes, his second game appearance since coming back from arthroscopic knee surgery.
Before the game, when Thibodeau met with reporters, he took exception to the popular notion the Bulls' defense isn't at its usual standards.
The Bulls held New Orleans to 72 points, 37.2-percent shooting and won the rebounds 45-38.
The Bulls will finish their six-game road trip Sunday in Orlando. Thanks to the lopsided score, the Bulls' starters were able to get some rest during the fourth quarter.
"We've taken a lot of first steps," Gasol said after the game, according to csnchicago.com. "It's not about taking the first step forward, then two steps backward. You'll go nowhere doing that. It's about continuously going forward and doing the right things on the floor.
"We have to be consistent. That's what we have to strive for."
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