Chicago Bulls Beat Down Thunder: Is It Their Best Performance of the Year?

It's hard to believe but the Chicago Bulls pretty much controlled a game against one of the NBA's better teams with Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah scoring a total of 17 points.

This was the best team win the Bulls have had this season, Carlos Boozer's best game by far and overall, the first real look at what the Bulls can be. 

Derrick Rose's production was down in terms of scoring, but he still controlled much of the offensive pace of the game; his speed was still setting up everyone. The movement away from the ball by both Luol Deng and Boozer was active and precise, giving Rose plenty of opportunities to pass off the ball underneath the basket. 

Boozer's production was outstanding, with 29 points and 12 rebounds. One play in particular was an indication of better things to come from Boozer, an over-the-back circus shot, that also drew a foul call.

Boozer is giving the Bulls exactly what they are giving him $80 million for, an offensive presence in the paint.

Then, if the middle was jammed up there were wide open players out by the perimeter. Kyle Korver hit two three-pointers and scored 13 overall, Deng hit one and even Keith Bogans hit one, on a shot where he was so open he had time to take a nap.

In addition to his perimeter shooting, Deng did a much better job of putting the ball on the floor and going to the rim without getting out of control. 

For the first time this year, the Bulls looked like a team that could score from anywhere, and with anyone. It was the most even, steady offensive performance by the team this year.

The Bulls weren't just impressive on offense either. In fact, it's possible they were even more impressive on defense. 

Rose kept the young Thunder superstar, Russell Westbrook, in check, holding him to 15 points on 7-18 shooting. Boozer looked comfortable for the first time in the defense, and with Noah sitting much of the game due to foul trouble, filled in spots at center. Along with the other big men, he did a nice job of forcing out the ball to the perimeter. 

From outside, the Thunder did not do very well, as the Bulls for the first time were on the spot, getting hands in faces from behind the arc, holding Oklahoma City to 4-19 on threes. 

Deng did a much better job of defending the NBA's leading scorer, Kevin Durant, than the 29 points may indicate—Durant scored most of his points from the free-throw line, going 14-14 from the charity stripe. 

From the start of the third quarter to the five minute mark of the fourth, the Bulls played straight out shut-down defense, limiting the Thunder to just 25 points over 19 minutes of play. It was over that stretch that the Bulls just grabbed control of the game, and there was little question about the outcome for most of the second half. 

If there was any criticism, it was that the Bulls let up near the end, and were outscored by eight points in the last three minutes of the game.

Still, on the whole it was the Bulls best team effort of the year, and was very promising of things to come.

Certainly the Rose/Boozer tandem is looking like what we'd been hoping for at the start of the year.