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By Sam Smith | 12.10.2014 | 9:25 p.m. CT
The Bulls Wednesday ran away in the second half for a dominating 105-80 victory over the Brooklyn Nets moving to 3-5 at home and 13-8 overall.
The Bulls were led by Derrick Rose with 23 points as all five starters, with Taj Gibson playing for the injured Joakim Noah, scored in double figures. Pau Gasol with 16 points and 16 rebounds had his seventh consecutive double/double.
The Bulls were tied at 51 at halftime in a first half that felt like they could have trailed by 20. It was an apathetic start for the Bulls in which they quickly fell behind 10-1 and 20-8 before Rose ignited the team with a pair of driving scores. Rose soon drew a second foul and the Bulls would trail 25-20 after one quarter and 36-31 before Rose would return in the second quarter. Rose then scored seven straight points with a pair of power drives and a floater to give the Bulls their first lead of the game before the Nets closed as Rose drew a third foul just before halftime. The Bulls had one of their better defensive quarters to start the third. Taj Gibson got three blocks in five Nets possessions, which set the Bulls off on a 13-0 run and 66-55 lead that was 77-68 after three quarters. The Bulls pulled away in the fourth as the Nets missed 13 of their first 14 shots.
Observations:
1. There’s much debate about Rose needing to attack the basket and drive more instead of shooting jump shots. Rose is spectacular when he does, but it’s too soon in his recovery and too early in the season to ask him after two years out to constantly attack the defense with the drive. Plus he made three three pointers. It’s a vital weapon for his arsenal.
2. The Bulls had their best sustained defense in some time in the second half as the Bulls broke open the game in the fourth quarter when the Nets scored one field goal in the first nine minutes.
3. The Bulls need to get more giddy up in their offense as trying to establish the inside/outside game and forcing the ball inside they ended up early in the game with numerous forced shots as the shot clock expired.