Gasol returns as Chicago Bulls beat Kings
There was a lot of ground for the Chicago Bulls to lose in the playoff chase Monday night.
Not only did the Bulls' closest rivals in the standings — Detroit, Indiana and Washington — win, so did the next two teams ahead of them, Charlotte and Boston.
The Bulls, meanwhile, trailed the struggling Sacramento Kings 95-90 midway through the fourth quarter at the United Center. Coach Fred Hoiberg sent all five starters, including Pau Gasol, back on the floor and they delivered.
The Bulls went on a 19-4 run and salvaged a 109-102 victory, so their playoff position remained the same. They're still eighth in the East, percentage points ahead of the Pistons and a half-game behind the seventh-place Pacers.
“We played well for about six minutes tonight,” Hoiberg said. “Thankfully, it was the last six minutes of the game. We finally got some urgency, got some stops and made plays on the other end. We were just kind of stuck in mud tonight. I told the guys that can't happen. This has to be our last subpar game of the year.”
Gasol was back in the starting lineup after sitting out four games with a sore right knee. He was a little rusty on the outside jumper but finished with a productive 14 points and 14 rebounds in 24 minutes.
Hoiberg said he felt Gasol guarded Sacramento all-star DeMarcus Cousins as well as could be expected, even though Cousins had 19 points and 18 rebounds.
“I felt good, energized, moving pretty well, not too much out of shape or out of rhythm,” Gasol said. “So I'm glad I was very effective for the 24 minutes I played, and I'm glad I was able to help the team win — my two goals today.”
Hoiberg said the plan was to play Gasol in four six-minute segments, and that plan is likely to continue Wednesday when the Bulls finish a four-game homestand against New York.
“We'll see how the knee reacts and so far, so good,” Gasol said. “I felt pretty well out there. We've just got to monitor it, one game at a time.”
The Bulls led by as many a 12 points early in the third quarter, but Sacramento rallied to pull within 82-81 at the end of three and led 95-90 with about six minutes left.
Jimmy Butler (11 points, 8 assists) got the run started with a driving lay-in. Derrick Rose (18 points) then drained a couple of pullup jumpers to put the Bulls ahead.
After sitting out last week in Toronto with a stomach virus, Mike Dunleavy lost his shooting touch. He was 1-for-11 from long range since the virus after missing his first 2 shots Monday. He came back to knock down 3 of his next 4, including a clutch 3 that put the Bulls up 105-97 with 1:28 remaining.
“When we have a team down like this, we have to make sure we keep them down,” Rose said. “I think we're headed in the right direction. I think the guys that are coming back are busting their butts to get back as fast as possible.
“There's no excuses, even with our young players and our young bigs. Just have to find ways to win.”
One thing the Bulls did well was look for Doug McDermott early. He hit his first 4 shots from 3-point range and ended up with 16 points. E'Twaun Moore remained on the injured list, missing his second straight game with a left hamstring injury.
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