Bulls-Kings Preview

DAN PIERINGER
Posted Dec 28 2011 7:07PM

The Chicago Bulls finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference last season in large part because of the defensive schemes installed by first-year coach Tom Thibodeau.

For Thibodeau and the Bulls to live up to the high bars they set last season, they'll need to knock the rust off of that defense.

The Bulls look to bounce back from their first loss Thursday night when they visit the Sacramento Kings.

After rallying for an 88-87 win in their season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas Day, the Bulls (1-1) could not overcome an early deficit Monday against Golden State. Chicago gave up 20 fast-break points and 42 points in the paint in the 99-91 defeat.

"We let them get easy looks," reigning MVP Derrick Rose said. "In the first quarter, we've got to find a way to stop people. Guys that we know can score the ball, they're getting too many easy looks."

Rose also struggled on offense, going 4 for 17 from the field and finishing with 13 points. But the Bulls' primary focus is recommitting to their defensive mindset from last season, when they led the league in opponents' field goal percentage (43.0) and ranked second in opponents' scoring (91.3 points per game) en route to 62 wins.

The Bulls' first two opponents this season have shot 47.1 percent.

"We're not going to get to where we want to get to playing defense like that," center Joakim Noah told the team's official website after the Bulls committed 20 turnovers and forced only 10 against the Warriors. "We have to improve. It's frustrating. Our defense was just bad."

The Bulls will try to better execute their defensive plan against a young Sacramento team coming off a poor offensive showing. After beating the Lakers 100-91 in their opener Monday, the Kings (1-1) were outscored 55-33 in the second half of a 101-79 loss at Portland on Tuesday.

Sacramento's starters went 17 for 49 (34.7 percent) from the field in the game, and the Kings were 9 of 38 (23.7) in the second half.

"We had our moments in the first 16, 18, 20 minutes, then we fell apart," coach Paul Westphal said. "This was a step in our development that was painful. We got taught by a more experienced team that is far above us now."

The Kings could have similar struggles against the Bulls, who have won five of the last six meetings including a 132-92 rout in the most recent matchup March 21. Eight Chicago players scored at least 11 points in that game as the Bulls shot 61.3 percent and recorded their highest point total since April 14, 2008.

Bulls forward Luol Deng scored 17 points while making 5 of 9 shots in that game. He has averaged 20.2 points and shot 55.1 percent in his last five contests against Sacramento.

Kings guard Marcus Thornton, coming off a 5-for-15 performance against the Trail Blazers, has averaged 23.0 points and shot 58.5 percent in his last three games against the Bulls, going 10 for 15 from 3-point range.

Since being traded to the Kings in February, Thornton has averaged 25.1 points and shot 50.3 percent in 11 Sacramento wins. He has been held to 18.8 points and shot 42.3 percent in 18 losses.

Bulls use fast start for 108-98 win over Kings

Posted Dec 30 2011 2:15AM

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) Even with reigning NBA MVP Derrick Rose off the court twice in the second half because of foul trouble, the Chicago Bulls' offense never slowed down, thanks to the efforts of reserve guard C.J. Watson.

Rose had 19 points and eight assists, and the Bulls earned a 108-98 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Thursday night.

But it was Watson who earned many of the accolades for running the Bulls so effectively in Rose's absence. Watson had eight points, nine assists and five rebounds in 16 minutes in helping Chicago bounce back from a lackluster loss earlier this week against Golden State.

"C.J. did a wonderful job. He did a great job of running our team and getting us some good shots," Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau said. "Our bench was terrific."

When Rose left the court with his fifth foul with 7:46 remaining and the Bulls ahead by 10 points, it was the perfect opportunity for the Kings to make a run. But Watson delivered almost immediately, scoring on a driving layup and finding Carlos Boozer for a jumper as the Bulls hiked he lead to 14.

"Derrick told me to be aggressive, and that's what I did," said Watson, who had no turnovers and two steals. "I was just trying to play my game and look for opportunities to set up my teammates. It was fun to be out there and help the team win."

The Bulls ran off 15 straight points early and never trailed again in defeating the Kings, the NBA's youngest team. Rose helped ignite the first-quarter run Thibodeau was hoping to see.

"The first five minutes of the game we got out and had some easy baskets that were triggered by our defense," Thibodeau said. "That's our first priority. It makes the game so much easier."

It looked relatively easy all game for the Bulls, who shot 54 percent. Boozer had 16 points and 15 rebounds for the Bulls (2-1). Richard Hamilton also had 16 points, and Ronnie Brewer scored 12 in a reserve role. Luol Deng also scored 12 points for Chicago, which made 6-of-12 3-pointers.

Marcus Thornton had 20 points, and Tyreke Evans had 19 for Sacramento (1-2). DeMarcus Cousins, who fouled out in the fourth quarter, had 15 points and 12 rebounds. Rookie Jimmer Fredette scored 14 points, and John Salmons had 12.

"They have a very good team and know how to win basketball games, they won 62 of them last year," said Fredette, who made a pair of 3-pointers and shot 5 of 10. "They know when it's time to go when we were hoping to take the lead."

With the Kings trailing by 12, Fredette hit a 3-pointer. Evans followed with an uncontested dunk, cutting Chicago's lead to seven with 2:53 left. But the Kings never got closer against the veteran Bulls, who made free throws in the closing minutes to secure the win.

Rose picked up his fifth foul against Fredette. Joakim Noah followed him to the bench with his fifth less than a minute later and Chicago leading 96-86.

Foul trouble also sidelined Noah and Rose in the third quarter. Noah got his fourth at 8:01, and several minutes later Rose walked slowly off the court after his fourth. Both players sat out the rest of the quarter, but the Bulls still owned a 25-22 edge in the third.

The Bulls managed to stretch their lead to 85-75, heading into the fourth quarter, behind the scoring of Watson and the veteran Boozer.

"I was kind of mad that the refs got me messed up late in the game," said Rose, who committed six of Chicago's 18 turnovers. "I wanted to be more aggressive and attack the hole. We were able to run and play in a good groove. (Fouls) are something I have to get through and can't worry about. I'm just happy we won the game."

Urged by Thibodeau to play faster, the Bulls were on the run early, scoring 15 fast-break points in the first 16 minutes. They finished with a 33-14 edge in fastbreak points.

"We defended them pretty well, but we can't defend breakaway layups," Kings coach Paul Westphal said. "We have guys crashing the boards, where we have no business doing, and we had guys not rotating back and trying to get steals in the backcourt. The Bulls can run, everybody knew that. If you want to win games, don't give them layups. Make them run their offense."

Chicago had a number of fast-break layups in the opening half when it led 60-53. Rose had 11 points and five assists for the Bulls, and Thornton had 11 points for the Kings.

The Bulls open the season with four straight road games, the final one coming Friday night against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Last season, the Bulls led the NBA in opponents' shooting percentage, and were the second-best team in terms of points allowed.

NOTES: The Kings opened by missing 12 of 13 shots. ... The Bulls shot 56 percent in the first half and were aided by their reserves, who made 7 of 9 shots. ... The Kings entered shooting 61 percent from the free-throw line. They made 20 of 34 attempts against the Bulls. ... The Bulls scored 15 unanswered points for a 19-5 lead midway through the first, but the Kings scored the final nine points of the quarter to cut the margin to 30-24.

Notebook: Bulls 108, Kings 98

By James Ham, for NBA.com
Posted Friday December 30, 2011 1:10AM

THE FACTS: It wasn't pretty, but the Chicago Bulls used a late surge to pin a 10-point home loss on the Sacramento Kings, 108-98.

QUOTABLE: "To give all those layups is inexcusable. To blame officials or to blame teammates or blame coaches, that's not what's happening for winning teams and we're not going to have that."
-- Sacramento coach Paul Westphal

THE STAT: Although DeMarcus Cousins had no problem getting both Joakim Noah and Omer Asik into foul trouble, he picked up his sixth and final foul with a little under five minutes remaining in the game. Cousins has totaled 15 personal fouls in the Kings first three games of the season.

TURNING POINT: Down eight with just over a minute to play in the third, the Bulls C.J. Watson, a 6-foot-2 guard, tied up J.J. Hickson, forcing a jump ball with the Kings 6-foot-9 power forward. Watson won the tip, the Bulls scored on the ensuing possession and extended their lead to 10.

HOT: The entire Bulls team. After shooting a whopping 41.5 percent from the field on Monday night at Golden State, the Bulls lit the Kings defense up, shooting an impressive 53.8 percent from the field.

NOT: Cousins. At first glance, a stat line that includes 15 points and 12 rebounds doesn't sound bad. Unfortunately, Cousins shot only 4-for-16 from the field and fouled out in just 28 minutes of play.

NOTABLE: Kings rookie Jimmer Fredette scored a career-high 14 points on 5-for-10 shooting in just over 24 minutes of play.

UP NEXT: For the Bulls, Friday @ Clippers, Sunday versus Memphis, Tuesday versus Atlanta. For the Kings, Saturday versus New York, Sunday versus New Orleans, Tuesday @ Memphis.

• Bulls: --
• Kings: Whiteside

• Bulls: Thibodeau
• Kings: --

• Lead Changes: 3
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: Power Balance Pavilion, Sacramento, CA
• Officials: #40 Leon Wood, #63 Derek Richardson, #59 Gary Zielinski
• Attendance: 17317
• Duration: 2:19