Bulls have a little fun in 120-87 win over Pistons

The Bulls discovered something about their team in the last two games.

Faced with home games against bad opponents, the Bulls took care of business, built big leads and then something became obvious - backup center Aaron Gray has developed a fan following.

Some of the loudest cheers in the Bulls' ridiculously easy 120-87 victory over Detroit on Monday night came when Gray stood up to enter the game and then when he dropped in a layup at the 6:26 mark of the fourth quarter.

Asked if he realized the level of Gray's popularity, Joakim Noah revealed an odd name for the third-year center.

"The Pookster played very well tonight," Noah said. "He was very focused and excited to play. He said he wanted to play tonight and he stepped up huge for us; a lot of touch on that layup."

Of course, some things defy explanation, such as that nickname for Gray.

"I think Drew Gooden gave him that nickname, if I remember correctly," Noah said after a long chat with former teammate Ben Wallace in the training room.

Anyway, the short-handed Pistons arrived on a 12-game losing streak and never came close to ending it at the United Center. Detroit (11-25) played without Tayshaun Prince (knee) and Will Bynum (ankle). Ex-Bulls guard Ben Gordon sat out the second half with a groin injury after taking just 1 shot (a miss) during a seven-minute run before halftime.

"There's still a lot of basketball left," Gordon said. "I'm still optimistic that once everyone gets healthy, we'll start to play the way we know we can and turn this around."

The Bulls (16-20) set season highs in points, assists (29) and shooting percentage (.571). As bad as they've been offensively, the Bulls have set a team high for points three times in the last four games.

The past two efforts were aided by struggling opponents, Detroit and Minnesota. But the Bulls also scored 108 last week at Charlotte, which leads the NBA in points allowed.

"It just seems like we're kind of clicking," guard Kirk Hinrich said. "It seems like we have a good feel for how we're playing and how we need to play to be successful."

There were plenty of individual stars for the Bulls. Luol Deng hit 13 of 18 shots for 27 points. Derrick Rose knocked down 11 of 13 for 22 points, and most of those were outside jumpers. Noah finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Tyrus Thomas had a career-high 6 steals.

John Salmons stayed hot, scoring 17 points and dropping 4 baskets from 3-point range. Salmons has hit 19 of his last 32 attempts from 3-point range (59.4 percent).

The lead hit 30 at the 3:21 mark of the third quarter, and the Bulls didn't let up the rest of the way.

"Another solid team effort, I thought," coach Vinny Del Negro said. "Our ball movement and our shooting tonight was probably as good as it's been."

All-star support: Before the game, Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro suggested he will do some lobbying on behalf of Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah to be selected as all-star reserves. After fans pick the starters, conference coaches vote for the subs.

"Hopefully they will get serious consideration, because they both deserve it," Del Negro said. "I'm not going to tell you what I do, but there are ways to put a bug in different coach's ears that you know well. I've had coaches send letters and make phone calls, e-mails or texts or whatever. I'm going to do something."

Pargo gets call: Guard Jannero Pargo saw some first-half playing time for the first time in a long while because both Derrick Rose and Kirk Hinrich picked up 2 early fouls. Pargo finished with 9 points and 3 assists in 18 minutes.

Longley returns: Former Bulls center Luc Longley sat courtside with his wife at Monday's game. A member of the 1996-98 championship teams, Longley hasn't been seen much since the glory days, though that's understandable since his home in Perth, Australia, is about a 23-hour plane ride.

<p class="factboxheadblack">Mike McGraw's game tracker</p>

<p class="News">Bulls 120, Pistons 87</p>

<p class="News"><b>Blown engines:</b> Some might say this was a dangerous game for the Bulls, playing against a Pistons team desperate to snap a 12-game losing streak. As it turned out, Detroit lived up to its billing by giving little effort and trailed by 30 points for most of the fourth quarter.</p>

<p class="News"><b>Sharp shooters:</b> The Bulls were above 60 percent shooting for most of the night before finishing at 57.1. Luol Deng hit 13 of 18 shots for 27 points, while Derrick Rose made like Kurt Warner and connected on 11 of 13 attempts for 22 points.</p>

<p class="News"><b>Missing Gordon:</b> Ex-Bulls guard Ben Gordon made his second return trip to Chicago, and this one was a dud. He played seven minutes in the first half, took 1 shot, didn't score, then sat out the rest of the game with a groin injury.</p>