New-look Bulls proceed with caution
INDIANAPOLIS -- During a high-scoring but very sloppy game Wednesday night at Indiana, there was no mistaking the Bulls as a team under construction.
They played twice earlier this week with newcomers Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden before ever having a chance to run a full practice with the new lineup.
So it wasn't surprising to see the Bulls surrender unguarded layups or watch a single player dribble out most of the shot clock without passing.
But they do have more offensive firepower since adding the two former Cavaliers in a three-team trade that sent Ben Wallace and Joe Smith to Cleveland. Hughes scored 29 points and Gooden pulled down 15 rebounds to lead the Bulls past the Pacers 113-107 at Conseco Fieldhouse.
"We were 0-3 against Cleveland," Indiana coach Jim O'Brien said. "And two of (the Cavaliers') starters are now coming off Chicago's bench. The trade has made them very deep and they're very athletic."
This shouldn't be mistaken for a quality win. The Pacers (22-36) have gone 3-13 in their last 16 outings, playing mostly without Jermaine O'Neal and Jamaal Tinsley. But the Bulls did manage to go 2-3 in a tough five-game stretch coming out of the all-star break.
"Our chemistry is starting to come together a little bit," Bulls coach Jim Boylan said. "Our defense still needs a little bit of work. Our guys are not totally focused on the defensive end. We'll have two or three guys playing well and a couple guys not quite ready."
The Bulls (23-34) fell behind 74-63 midway through the third quarter before Hughes led the visitors on a 14-2 run. Andres Nocioni later sparked a 12-3 run that opened the fourth quarter and broke open a tie game.
Eventually, the Bulls showed signs of coming together. They got the ball to Hughes when he developed a hot hand. Then Ben Gordon started creating things off the dribble, finding Luol Deng twice on baseline cuts while the Bulls held the lead late.
"If we can get over that hurdle of not falling into the dribble-mania, as I like to call it, and continue to move the ball and just play with each other, I think we can be a really good offensive team," Boylan said. "We don't want to bog down and have the ball in one guy's hands and have the shot clock run down.
"That's not a good recipe for us."
The Bulls ended up with four reserves scoring in double figures, with Gordon (15 points), Nocioni (11) and Gooden (10) joining Hughes. Deng finished with 16 points, while Kirk Hinrich was benched for most of the second half after some poor defense against Indiana guard Travis Diener.
Hughes scored 19 of his points in the second half and hit 10 of 19 shots. Even though he went to the NBA Finals with the Cavaliers last season, Hughes has told anyone who will listen that he was glad to get out of Cleveland.
"I've scored some buckets in this league, then kind of took a couple years off numbers-wise," he said, referring to his 2½ seasons with the Cavs. "But I feel I've put in enough work to be effective on the court. If they look to me to get baskets and get us going, I feel like I can do it."