Beasley betters Rose, Bulls
ORLANDO - The first meeting between top draft picks Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley was completely one-sided.
Beasley piled up 28 points and 9 rebounds in just 23 minutes of action to lead the Miami Heat to a convincing 94-70 victory over the Bulls at the Orlando summer league on Monday.
Rose finished with 10 points, 4 assists and 5 turnovers. His numbers weren't great, but he was able to flash some of his trademark speed in the third quarter, pushing the ball upcourt and then weaving through the defense to get to the basket.
But overall, it was a poor performance for the Bulls, who shot 37 percent from the field and sent Miami to the foul line 46 times.
"We didn't win," Rose said, "so I think I played horrible. But tomorrow's a new day."
Guard Demetris Nichols led the Bulls with 13 points, while Tyrus Thomas had 12 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks.
The Bulls' best play of the day was an easy choice. It came late in the fourth quarter when forward Cedric Simmons blocked a Beasley dunk attempt, preventing the No. 2 draft pick from reaching 30 points.
Beasley, a 6-8 forward, hit 9 of 21 shots from the field while showing an ability to shoot from the outside and blow past taller defenders. Both Thomas and Joakim Noah had trouble staying in front of Beasley, who also used his long arms to keep several rebounds alive.
"He's a great player on the pick and roll and he's going to be someone who'll be very tough to guard," Noah said. "I mean, I was very impressed. He was very comfortable in everything that he wanted to do and he did a great job."
Perhaps knowing that this performance will mean nothing when the regular season begins, Beasley didn't seem too impressed with his game.
"Could have played better," he said after the contest. "Could have got a couple more assists, made a couple extra passes, got a couple more rebounds, could have got a couple stops early on."
Beasley received support from reigning D-League MVP Kasib Powell, a one-time Bull who scored 15 points. Rookie guard Mario Chalmers, whose Kansas team beat Rose and Memphis in the NCAA title game, added 11 points.
Barrington native Jason Richards, a rookie point guard from Davidson, had 3 points and 2 assists in 14 minutes for Miami.
The Bulls trailed by 14 points at halftime and never got back into the game. Their bench play was pitiful as eight players combined to 5 of 24 shots from the field, no doubt costing Rose several assists. Simmons, Aaron Gray and JamesOn Curry all failed to score.
The Bulls are back in action today against Indiana at approximately 6 p.m. All games in the Orlando league can be seen via webcast at Orlandomagic.com.
"I think we have to run a little bit more," Rose said in an interview with bulls.com. "We kind of came down and set the ball up. Those guys weren't used to running. We've just got to get familiar with each other."