Derrick Rose Returns to Lead Bulls to Victory on Presidents' Day
Derrick Rose returned to lead the Chicago Bulls to victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Presidents' Day. The Bulls jumped off to a quick lead, but the Hawks came back and had a 12-5 run to end the third game and tighten things up and make things interesting.
Rose scored 23 points, handed out six assists and grabbed five rebounds. Joakim Noah had 17 boards. Luol Deng had 10 points and nine rebounds.
Carlos Boozer had 16 points and five rebounds. Ronnie Brewer had 13 points and six rebounds. John Lucas III also scored 10 points off the bench.
Rose was back to his penetrating ways as he was getting into the lane and either scoring off the dribble or dishing to the open man. There were some things that were a little evident of the layoff though, in particular his 5-for-9 in free throws. He was just a little out of sync though.
There were no indications of the back or the toe bothering him.
That doesn't mean the Bulls injury problems are over though. Rip Hamilton remains out. C.J. Watson also had migraines due to the hit he took on Saturday afternoon against the New Jersey Nets. Mike James and Lucas shared the minutes he would normally take, combining for 17 points and three assists.
It was a good win with the Bulls dominating the first half, but letting up, particularly o defense in the third quarter. The Hawks won that frame 27-18 and were outscored in the second half 42-35.
That was something the Bulls were improving with.Mentally sometimes the Bulls get in the habit of "wining" games before they are over. They tend to let up when thy get a 20 point lead and that lets teams back into it.
Other than that though the Bulls played a solid game, and came out playing sharp against a good team. The upside is that they built a 20 point lead against a quality team in the Atlanta Hawks. The Bulls are now 10-6 against winning teams.
Some have worried about the Bulls "struggles" against teams with winning records, but that's a bit of an anomaly. They are 2-5 when they are missing either Rose or Deng, 1-4 on the road. They are 8-1 against teams with winning records with both Deng and Rose in the lineup.
If the concern is what this means for the postseason, it shouldn't mean much. When the Bulls have their two All-Stars playing they play just fine against winning teams. In five of their six losses, one of their All-Stars was missing.
In all of them at least one starter and two rotation players were missing. In four of them they were missing two starters.
That might sound "excuses" to some but the fact they are 8-1 when they have both their All-Stars says it's more of a valid point than an excuse.
The Bulls have one more game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday before the All-Star break. In all likelihood that will be the last game that Rip Hamilton misses. If they win that game they will lock up the most wins by any team in the NBA before the break.
