Magic rout Bulls, spoil Boozer's Chicago debut

[December 02, 2010]  CHICAGO (AP) -- Jameer Nelson scored 24 points and the Orlando Magic dominated the paint and cruised to a 107-78 victory over Chicago on Wednesday night, spoiling the Bulls debut of forward Carlos Boozer.

Boozer played his first game of the season after missing all of Chicago's preseason games plus the first 15 of the regular season after breaking the fifth metatarsal in his right hand in an accident at his home on Oct. 2.

He looked like a player who hadn't played in a while. Tentative most of the game, Boozer finished with five points and two rebounds in 22 minutes, shooting 2 for 5 from the floor.

Vince Carter scored 22 points for Orlando, Brandon Bass had 17 off the bench and Nelson added nine assists.

Joakim Noah led Chicago with 16 points in 25 minutes, but failed to grab a rebound. Noah entered the contest as the NBA's second-leading rebounder with 13.2 per game.

Noah hadn't gone an entire game without a rebound since Dec. 27, 2008, a contest in which he played just six minutes. In games in which Noah has played eight or more minutes, he'd never gone without a rebound.

Derrick Rose added 15 points in 32 minutes for the Bulls.

Carter scored 20 points during the first half. The Magic finished with a 44-21 edge in rebounding, a 27-13 advantage in second-chance points and outscored Chicago 46-26 in the paint. The Bulls entered the game third in the NBA in rebounding percentage.

Dwight Howard scored 13 points for Orlando and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

Orlando led by as many as 25 points in the first half, but Chicago closed with 16 a couple of times after halftime. However, Quentin Richardson hit a pair 3-pointers and Rashard Lewis hit another as the Magic pushed the lead back to 26 points.

Chicago got no closer than 19 points thereafter, as the fourth quarter played out with mostly with reserves on the floor, a letdown for the sellout crowd of 21,435 in Chicago's first game at the United Center since Nov. 13. The game ended to the sound of boos.

The Bulls (9-7) last played on Saturday, a 96-85 win over Sacramento that completed a seven-game road trip during which Chicago went 4-3, and should have been well rested. Instead, it was the Magic with the fresh-looking legs.

The Magic played at Orlando on Tuesday and despite the short rest -- and a virus going around the team that had forward Mickael Pietrus vomiting in the hallway at one point in the first half -- Orlando had little trouble in raising its Eastern Conference-best record to 14-4.

Orlando has won five straight games overall. The Magic entered the game tied with the Boston Celtics for the best record in the Eastern Conference.

NOTES: The Bulls are considered one of the up-and-coming challengers to the conference's elite teams, but also lost to Orlando 105-67 in a preseason game on Oct. 16. ... Carter passed John Stockton for 37th place on the NBA's career scoring list. Carter now has 19,714 points during his 12-plus seasons in the league. ... Boozer, considered the crown jewel of the Bulls' offseason rebuilding plan, was injured shortly before the start of the preseason schedule. He said that he fell over a bag that had been left on the floor when he rushed to answer the door of his apartment.

[Associated Press]

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