|
 The team learned over the weekend that Noah's season is probably
over, so their best offensive big man carried a larger load. Veteran
center Pau Gasol had a season-high 31 points and grabbed 12 rebounds
to lead the Bulls to a 111-101 victory over the Detroit Pistons on
Monday afternoon at The Palace.
"We spoke about it in practice emotionally after knowing Jo's going
to be out for awhile, if the team was going to notice it or feel it
in this game," said Gasol, who added three assists and three blocks.
"I think the team did a good job just focusing in, playing and
competing and getting a huge win. It speaks a lot for our team,
about our concentration and where our minds are at."
Mindful of how dominant the league's leading rebounder, Pistons
center Andre Drummond, can be, Gasol forced him away from the basket
by pumping in mid-range shots. Chicago's pick-and-pop play proved
unstoppable, as Gasol made 13 of 18 field-goal attempts and the team
shot 52.4 percent.
"We played with poise, we spaced the floor well and we found whoever
was hot," Gasol said. "Once you find stuff that works for you in a
game, you've got to go to it until they stop it and then you go to
something else. We stayed pretty consistent throughout the game."
The Bulls are now 9-2 in games that Noah has missed this season, but
coach Fred Hoiberg brushed aside that statistic.
"I don't think you'll find one guy in that locker room that would
say we're a better team with Jo out of the lineup," he said. "He
does a lot of things that don't show up in the box score. He's a guy
we'll absolutely miss the rest of the season."
Bulls point guard Derrick Rose fired in 20 points and shooting guard
Jimmy Butler contributed 16 points and nine assists. Chicago (24-16)
took the lead to stay early in the fourth.
The Pistons won the first two meetings this season in overtime,
including an epic 147-144, four-overtime marathon on Dec. 18 in
Chicago. Gasol had his only other 30-point game of the season during
the four-OT loss.
"It's just reading the game," Rose said of Gasol's output. "We kept
going to Jimmy, and he was driving and passing the ball. Every night
it can be someone else."
Chicago's bench also played a crucial role. Small forward Doug
McDermott and power forward Nikola Mirotic combined for 21 points
while point guard Aaron Brooks dished out 10 assists, doubling his
previous season high.
The Pistons' energy was noticeably lower than on Saturday night,
when they upset Golden State.
[to top of second column] |
"We're a consistently inconsistent team," point guard Reggie Jackson
said. "We've shown we play well at times. We play to the level of
our opponent quite a bit. We've shown the world that we have flashes
of being a good team."
Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy was disappointed with his team's
defensive effort.
"We just did not defend at all," he said. "We started the game
pretty well with our starters, we went to the bench, and the bench
didn't have anything going today. We got crushed with the bench and
then after that, we just got pretty well taken apart for the rest of
the game."
Pistons power forward Ersan Ilyasova led Detroit (22-19) with 19
points and 11 rebounds. Center Andre Drummond collected his
league-high 35th double-double with 13 points and 16 rebounds,
Jackson had 19 points and small forward Marcus Morris added 18 for
the Pistons.
Detroit shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was ejected in the
closing seconds of the third after picking up his second technical
of the quarter. Caldwell-Pope exited with 14 points.
NOTES: Bulls rookie PF Bobby Portis will play regularly now that C
Joakim Noah (dislocated shoulder) may miss the rest of the season.
"He knows now he's going to play extended minutes pretty much every
night," coach Fred Hoiberg said. ... Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy is
somewhat surprised his team was at or above .500 for all but one
game during the first half of the season. "We've come along probably
a little bit quicker than I would have expected," Van Gundy said.
... Bulls reserve PG Kirk Hinrich (left quad contusion) did not
travel with the team. ... Detroit embarks on a four-game road trip,
beginning at Houston on Wednesday. Chicago has a home game against
defending champion Golden State the same night. ... Detroit C Andre
Drummond's 21-rebound game against the Warriors on Saturday was his
eighth 20-rebound performance this season, two more than the rest of
the league combined.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
