NBA Opening-Day: Defense Leads Bulls to Win over Lakers

Although Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau is soft spoken in front of the media, he isn't shy about how important defense is for any team looking to win a championship.

And after just one game in a 66-game long NBA season, the Chicago Bulls have picked up right where they left off last season. The Bulls' boasted a boasted a league-best .430 opponents' field goal percentage while giving up just over 91 points per game in 2011.

While Derrick Rose's offensive prowess received most of the publicity a season ago, the team defense of the Bulls contributed to their winning ways in a major way.

With Joakim Noah's ability to anchor the defense and Luol Deng's improved commitment to perimeter defense, the Thibodeau-led Bulls had a successful campaign reaching the Eastern Conference finals.

After a lockout-lengthened offseason, the Bulls continued their defensive mindset with an 88-87 win over the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center.

While Rose's floater with under five seconds left put the Bulls ahead for good will get most of the hype, the Bulls defense down the stretch allowed them to win.

Two major plays by Deng with less than a minute to go in the game helped the Bulls complete their comeback to start the season with a win.

The first came with 16 seconds to go with the Bulls down 86-87. While Kobe Bryant received the ball just in front of the half-court line, he was trapped by Rose and Noah. Bryant then tried to make a pass to a flashing Pau Gasol, but Deng jumped in front of the pass to give Rose and the Bulls the opportunity to win the game.

Along with his four steals, Deng's only block of the game proved to essential.

After taking a timeout with 4.6 seconds left, Lakers' coach Mike Brown decided to let former MVP, Bryant, out-duel the reigning MVP, Rose, with an isolation play with Bryant and Deng. Bryant drove hard down the lane with his right hand. But, as he rose to take what would have been the game-winning lay-up, Deng rejected his attempt at the buzzer, securing a Bulls' victory.

Although the Bulls lacked any consistent flow offensively, their stout defense will always be a much-needed safety net, especially with little practice time throughout the season.

With defense continuing to be a catalyst this year, the famous montra of "defense wins championships" could reign true for Deng, Thibodeau and the rest of the Chicago Bulls' franchise.

Josh Rosenblat is a high school student from Chicago looking to find a way to break into sports journalism. He often writes about the NBA (primarily the Chicago Bulls), as well as the MLB, college basketball, Tennis and the NFL. You can email him at [e-mail] or follow him on Twitter @JMRosenblat. Feel free to send him comments.

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