Kings vs. Bulls: Bulls Hold off Kings 121-115, Thibodeau Clinches All-Star Job

The Bulls held off a fourth-quarter rally by the Sacramento Kings to beat the Kings, 121-115. As a result of their victory the Chicago Bulls have the best record in the Eastern Conference as of tonight which means that Tom Thibodeau will be the Eastern Conference coach in the All-Star game. 

There's no word yet on whether Luol Deng will be playing 41 minutes, though. 

Tonight's game was, coincidentally, a good example of why you play the starters late in the game, even when it seems to be well in hand. The Kings came back against the Bulls bench and trimmed a 19-point lead down to two points with less than 15 seconds to go.

This just in. Other NBA teams also try to win.  

The Bulls were able to stave off the attack in the end, but it did underscore why you don't just expect that 19-point lead in the fourth quarter is "safe." 

The Bulls were again playing without their starting backcourt as it seems that Rip Hamilton may still be another week away and Derrick Rose is day to day. 

For the Bulls the story of the game was the Bulls frontcourt who played splendidly. Joakim Noah had 22 points and 11 boards, blocking four shots as well. Luol Deng had 21 points, a career-high 11 assists and six boards. Carlos Boozer added 16 points and five assists. Taj Gibson had 15 points and Kyle Korver had 18 points, including hitting on 4-of-4 form the charity stripe in the final 20 seconds to help the Bulls ice the game. 

All together the frontcourt combined for 80 points, 19 assists and 24 rebounds. 

John Lucas added nine points and nine assists off the bench. 

The backcourt is where the Kings really had a huge advantage tonight with Marcus Thornton and Tyreke Evans combining for 50 points. The Bulls really missed Hamilton and Rose tonight, not just offensively but even more defensively. 

DeMarcus Cousins also played a great game for the Kings scoring 28 points and grabbed 17 rebounds. 

It's been an interesting season where the different components of the Bulls team have performed well at different times. When the season started, Rose and Hamilton were working very well together but all the concern was Boozer and Noah and how they were having trouble playing together. 

Now Noah and Boozer are really working well together but Rose and Hamilton aren't playing at all. 

If the Bulls can get all five of their starters for an extended period of time, playing to their potential, they might just be able to win a championship.