Game #21 - Bulls @ 76ers - Game Thread

[bullsger]

@


Game 21, Road Game 9
Wednesday, December 12, 2012 – 6:30 PM CT
Wells Fargo Center
Comcast SportsNet / ESPN 1000 AM

BULLS VS. 76ers ALL-TIME
ALL-TIME .................... Bulls trail 89-115
BULLS CURRENT STREAK ..... 3 Wins
BULLS HOME STREAK ............ 2 Wins
BULLS ROAD STREAK ............... 1 Win

BULLS VS. 76ers THIS SEASON
Dec. 1 @ Chicago – BULLS WON 93-88
Dec. 12 @ Philadelphia –
Feb. 28 @ Chicago –

LAST FIVE BULLS GAMES
Dec. 11 vs Clippers L 89-94
Dec. 08 vs Knicks W 93-85
Dec. 07 @ Pistons W 108-104
Dec. 05 @ Cavaliers W 95-85
Dec. 04 vs Pacers L 76-80

Game Notes



Chicago Bulls (10-8)
Home 6-5
Road 4-3

Bulls Averages:
PPG: 93.9 (Opp: 91.4)
RPG: 44.50 (Opp: 39.15)
APG: 22.7 (Opp: 18.7)
SPG: 7.05 (Opp: 8.25)
BPG: 5.30 (Opp: 5.50)
TO: 15.75 (Opp: 14.15)
FG%: .442 (Opp: .426)
FT%: .801 (Opp: .767)
3p%: .345 (Opp: .318)

Probable Bulls starters


Kirk Hinrich - PG -
Marco Belinelli - SG -
Luol Deng - SF -
Carlos Boozer - PF -
Joakim Noah - C -

Bulls Stats Leaders
Points: Deng 17.8, Boozer 14.4
Rebounds: Noah 10.8, Boozer 9.8
Assists: Hinrich 5.5, Noah 4.3
Steals: Noah 1.40, Deng 1.00
Blocks: Noah 2.30, Gibson 1.20

FG%: Butler .545, Noah & Boozer .477
FT%: Hamilton .930, Belinelli .865
3FG%: Belinelli .397, Hinrich .381

Injury report
Richard Hamilton (torn plantar fascia in left foot) is day-to-day
Derrick Rose (left knee) is out.

For a full report and the latest on Bulls' injuries, check out the AthletiCo Injury Report.



Philadelphia 76ers (12-9)
Home 8-5
Road 4-4

Probable 76ers starters

Jrue Holiday - PG
Jason Richardson - SG
Thaddeus Young - SF
Evan Turner - PF
Lavoy Allen - C

Injury report
Royal Ivey (Right Groin Strain) and Damien Wilkins (Right Calf Strain) are game-time decisions…
Andrew Bynum (Bilateral Knee Bone Bruises) is out.

[Good Hope]

bulls win. 92-89 over philly.

The game last night was pretty good, in spite of Marco's fall back to earth. Carlos is picking it up. And so is Taj. (Jo needs Taj)

[narek]

Originally Posted by Good Hope

bulls win. 92-89 over philly.

The game last night was pretty good, in spite of Marco's fall back to earth. Carlos is picking it up. And so is Taj. (Jo needs Taj)

Hinrich's out though.

[bullsger]

Bulls 96 Sixers 89

How it happened: Joakim Noah scored 21 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and dished out 5 assists in 44 minutes as the Bulls pulled out a win they will be extremely proud of. Luol Deng added 19 points and 12 rebounds in 37 minutes, while Marco Belinelli scored 16 and Nate Robinson added 14. Jrue Holiday led all scorers with 26 for the Sixers, but it wasn't enough.

What it means: Playing on the second night of a tough back-to-back, the Bulls could easily have folded up and given away this game to the Sixers. Credit to Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau and his team for not allowing that to happen. The Bulls were understandably tired coming into the game, but they dug deep to find enough energy to win. It's been the case all year, but it's obvious how much the rest of the players feed off Noah and Deng. Noah always remembered that the Philly fans cheered when he got hurt in the playoffs last season and he clearly wanted to put on a performance for them. He was the spark plug that gave the Bulls energy when they tired, and he was the one who knocked down a couple of key shots late in the game.

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bulls/print?id=10975

[King Joseus]

Originally Posted by Good Hope

bulls win. 92-89 over philly.

The game last night was pretty good, in spite of Marco's fall back to earth. Carlos is picking it up. And so is Taj. (Jo needs Taj)

Not too shabby. Nice win.

[Fergus]

Noah had another great game. He is really having a strong season. It was also nice to see Teague get some playing time, especially in the 4th quarter.

[yodurk]

Quality road win. Great to see guys stepping it up when others our out injured. This team's depth is underrated. Hinrich, Rip, Rose were all out...Marco, Teague, Jimmy all stepped it up.

This team should be pretty damn good if Rose returns even at 90% of his MVP production by playoff time. The only real gaping hole is a quality backup center (thank goodness for Noah's awesome conditioning this year). I am not expecting a championship but there's a good chance we'll take down anyone save for Miami. Which wouldn't be too bad for a "lost" season.

[jnrjr79]

Originally Posted by yodurk

Quality road win. Great to see guys stepping it up when others our out injured. This team's depth is underrated. Hinrich, Rip, Rose were all out...Marco, Teague, Jimmy all stepped it up.

This team should be pretty damn good if Rose returns even at 90% of his MVP production by playoff time. The only real gaping hole is a quality backup center (thank goodness for Noah's awesome conditioning this year). I am not expecting a championship but there's a good chance we'll take down anyone save for Miami. Which wouldn't be too bad for a "lost" season.

We'll see. I'd very much like to buy in to this line of thinking, but I am going to take a wait-and-see approach to how Derrick will perform until he's actually on the court. Physically, I'm sure he'll be fine, but I don't think you can predict how a guy will be mentally in terms of trusting the knee and playing with the reckless abandon we're used to.

[Good Hope]

Maybe a bit less reckless abandon might actually be good for the team? He can pick his spots for going all beast-like. I'm liking the team's play. Seems like Thibs has begun getting everybody on the same page. The leadership of Deng and Noah has been CRUCIAL. If they tuned out, this season would have been lost. But they kept the faith that putting out the effort would be worth it. The others have started to follow suit. Good job vets. Good job, coach!

[yodurk]

Originally Posted by Good Hope

Maybe a bit less reckless abandon might actually be good for the team? He can pick his spots for going all beast-like. I'm liking the team's play. Seems like Thibs has begun getting everybody on the same page. The leadership of Deng and Noah has been CRUCIAL. If they tuned out, this season would have been lost. But they kept the faith that putting out the effort would be worth it. The others have started to follow suit. Good job vets. Good job, coach!

Well said. Yeah, I am not expecting the "same" Derrick Rose in the sense of his style of play. And that is not necessarily a bad thing. For example I wouldn't be surprised to see the best looking 3-pt shot we've ever seen from Derrick; I mean that is the one skill he could practice for the past several months. Given the progress we've heard and similar timeline recoveries from Rubio and Shumpert (nearly identical injuries), it just really sounds like Rose will be on the court by March at the latest. I know people like to be cautious, but sooner or later he will complete that rehab program and there is just no point in waiting any longer to return to game action. That is in effect the final stage of the rehab and it would be a terrible decision to push that off until the start of next season; get it over and done with this year.

[Good Hope]

Originally Posted by King Joseus

Not too shabby. Nice win.

I'm missing the vBookie game thread right about now :-)