Bulls Post First Road Victory
Bulls 105 Orlando 83
Scorers: Bulls: Holiday 19. Orlando: Fournier: 21.
Rebounding: Bulls: Markkanen and Lopez each with 7. Orlando : Gordon 7
Assists: Bulls: Grant 6. Orlando: Mack 8.
CCI STAT OF THE NIGHT: Bulls held the Magic to 83 points. Orlando came in second in scoring at 114 per game.
CCI 2nd STAT of THE NIGHT: Lauri Markkanen with 3 more treys. He sets a new NBA record with 20 made triples in his first seven NBA games.
CCI GAME BALLS: Justin Holiday got it going early scoring 14 of his team high 19 in the first period . Robin Lopez with a double double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.
INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM: Winning on the road was sweet as the Bulls bagged their first road victory of the young season in four attempts. Holiday was proud how his team locked in:
“Team defense. Everyone got involved. Everybody used their bodies. Everybody was ready to go tonight and focused on the game plan and executed.”
UP NEXT: Tonight hosting New Orleans
GAME NIGHT: Pelicans (4-5, 3-2 on the road) at Bulls (2-5, 1-2 at home)
LAST GAME: Bulls 105 Magic 83. New Orleans 99 Dallas 94.
TV: NBC Sports Chicago: Neil Funk and Stacey King 7pm.
Radio: WLS 890AM. Chuck Swirsky, Bill Wennington and Steve Kashul. 6:30CT Pre game show simulcast on BullsTV on Bulls.com
SCOUTING REPORT ON NOLA: Anthony Davis and Demarcus Cousins. Need I say more? Davis with a monster game last night in Dallas 30points -13 rebounds-4 assists and 3 blocks. He also played 40 minutes so let’s monitor to see if fatigue becomes an issue for Davis who returns home for his yearly visit at the United Center. Cousins with a 20 point- 22 rebound game. Alvin Gentry played four of his starters 34 or more minutes last night. In fact, Davis is averaging 40 minutes the past 5 games..Cousins, 39 minutes in his past five. With a comfortable fourth quarter lead, only one Bulls’ player (Nwaba) played 30 or more minutes in Orlando.
NBA NEWS AND NOTES:
Marquee matchup game of the night: Boston rallies from 18 down at half to shock OKC 101-95. The Celtics have won seven straight. Kyrie Irving went scoreless the first 22 minutes but finished with 25 points. Got to love the NBA!
LeBron James recorded his 11th career 50-point game, tying Allen Iverson for the sixth most all time. He tied a franchise single game mark with 57 points also held by Kyrie Irving . James filled up the stat sheet with a 57 points- 11 rebounds. 7 assists 3 steals and 2 blocks game. Wowza! It was a wake up call for the slumping Cavs winning on the road 130-122 over Washington . Meantime, John Wall left the building with his left arm in a sling after suffering a strained left shoulder. The Wizards play in Toronto Sunday.
The Hawks and Mavs are a combined 2-17.
The Pistons go to 6-3 with a win over Milwaukee. Andre Drummond with a 24-12 game . His remarkable free throwing shooting continues making 14-16 from the line.
The resurgent Knicks downed Phoenix. Kristaps Porzingis is blistering opponents. 37 in the win and he’s averaging 29ppg on the season
Ben Simmons triple- double 14-11-11..The 76ers in the win column beating Indiana. Philly now 5-4.....over 500 for the first time since November 2013.
Congratulations to San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili who is the first player from South America to play in 1000 career NBA games. A lock for the Hall of Fame.
Thanks for reading CCI. E mail me at cswirsky@bulls.com. Twitter: @ctsbulls.
Always a pleasure!