Finally, Bulls roll with full starting five
Joakim Noah was practically in disbelief when told the news.
On Monday night against Detroit, the eighth game of the season, the Bulls used their projected starting lineup for the first time.
"That was the first time that we played together?" Noah asked while sitting at his locker. "Cool. That's good to know."
Jimmy Butler missed the first two games of the season with a sprained thumb, then Derrick Rose was out for four of the next five with a pair of sprained ankles, and the one time Rose did play at Milwaukee, Noah was sidelined by an illness.
So Monday marked the first time since preseason the Bulls trotted out Rose, Butler, Noah, Pau Gasol and Mike Dunleavy. The results were good in the first half, but the Bulls let a 19-point lead slip to 2 in the fourth quarter before holding on for a 102-91 victory at the United Center.
"I thought that was our best half of basketball," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "The offense, the defense and the rebounding were very good. We took care of the ball. The challenge for us is to do it for 48 minutes. I thought for the first time having them all together, it was very good."
Rose had a strong return from his ankle injuries. He attacked the basket and pushed the ball on the break, producing 24 points and 7 assists in 32 minutes. He scored 8 points in the fourth quarter after the game got close.
Rose's speed didn't diminish as the night wore on. He bolted out of the locker room quickly and didn't speak to reporters. Needless to say, his teammates were glad to have him back.
"It was nice," Butler said. "He was confident out there. He was just playing his style of basketball. He's so fast and he's getting out in transition, getting guys layups and dunks."
It was difficult to pick out a single Rose highlight. With the game on the line in the fourth quarter, he burst through traffic for a lay-in, drove and dished to Butler for a 3-pointer, then took advantage of ex-teammate D.J. Augustin on a pullup jumper in the lane.
"It is fun to watch his athleticism," Aaron Brooks said. "I think on one play in the air he did three things - pass, fake and shoot. He did a good job today."
Well, you can't exactly pass and shoot at the same time, but Brooks was talking about a play when Rose hung in the air, began to shoot, faked a pass, then fired the ball to Noah for a lay-in.
"When he's out on the court, he demands so much attention, it opens up a lot of easy opportunities for everybody else," Noah said.
The starters did most of the damage Monday. Butler finished with 19 points, and the inside game thrived. Gasol piled up 17 points and 15 rebounds, while Noah added 13 points, 14 boards and 6 assists.
The Bulls won the rebounding battle 49-46, ending a six-game run of getting outrebounded by their opponent.
"He (Thibodeau) has been highlighting rebounding for a long time now," Butler said. "We finally just decided to buy into it."
The Bulls' lead peaked at 60-41 late in the second quarter. The Pistons (2-5) got as close as 90-88 on an Augustin jumper with 2:42 left. The Bulls answered on the next two possessions with a Gasol corner jumper and Butler 3-point from Rose to make it 95-88.
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