Watson leads Bulls back from ugly start
The Bulls have put together a great effort this season despite playing short-handed most of the time. But it looked like everything was about to fall apart Saturday.
During a loss to Portland on Friday, the Bulls managed just 10 points in the fourth quarter. Then against Philadelphia a night later, they sputtered to an 11-point first quarter after falling behind 11-0 at the start of the contest.
The stress even seemed to be getting to coach Tom Thibodeau, who picked up his second technical foul of the week early in the third quarter.
Somehow, it all came back together.
Backup guard C.J. Watson filled in for the injured Derrick Rose once again and scored a team-high 20 points, leading the Bulls to an 89-80 victory over Philadelphia.
“This says a lot about our team,” forward Luol Deng said. “In the past, you have one guy go down and it's a totally different team. We've got an MVP go down and we're still capable of playing with any team in this league.”
Watson admitted after the game that he'd be on the sideline resting his sprained left ankle if Rose wasn't out with a groin strain. Watson didn't seem up to the task of sticking Sixers guard Jrue Holiday, who knocked down 4 of his first 5 shots and eventually finished with 30 points.
“I thought that before the game,” Watson said. “Having to guard him (Holiday) and Lou Williams on a bad ankle is not what I pictured. I just tried to stay in front of him and force him to the bigs. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't.”
Having two starters sidelined by injuries usually depletes a team's bench. But trailing 24-11 at the end of the first quarter, the Bulls got a boost from reserves Taj Gibson and John Lucas III. That pair scored the team's first 14 points of the second quarter and Omer Asik's tip-in at the buzzer brought the home team within 44-38 by halftime.
After trailing by as many as 14 points in the second quarter, the Bulls took their first lead of the night at 52-49 on a Watson 3-pointer. The advantage eventually grew to 11 with 7:29 left, and the Bulls fought off one last comeback attempt.
Center Joakim Noah added 13 points and 11 rebounds, as the Bulls built a 53-39 edge on the glass. Gibson, Carlos Boozer and Kyle Korver scored 11 points each.
Center Spencer Hawes (10 points) was the only other Philadelphia player to score in double figures.
“With us, I think it's really just the will to win,” Deng said. “It's just a sign of how good we've become as a team. In the past, since I've been here, even last year a little bit, there were games we lost just because we were struggling at one thing. We just allowed that to defeat us.”
On the sideline, Thibodeau never slowed down. He's now 1 victory short of reaching 100 wins faster than any coach in NBA history.
“Thibs is always the same,” Noah said. “He's always high energy, going crazy on us. He's the most passionate person when it comes to basketball that I've ever been around. Whether we're up 20 or down 20, it doesn't change.”
mmcgraw@dailyherald.com