Bulls-Bobcats Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Feb 09 2012 2:14PM

The Chicago Bulls hope to take the pressure off Derrick Rose and his ailing back by monitoring his minutes.

It could be a good sign that they didn't even need him to defeat the Charlotte Bobcats last month.

Rose and the Bulls look to win their fifth straight Friday night when they visit the league-worst Bobcats, who are trying to avoid matching the longest losing streak in franchise history.

Chicago improved to 5-2 on its nine-game road trip with a 90-67 win in New Orleans on Wednesday, holding the Hornets to 37.3 percent shooting.

It was the Bulls' third straight victory by at least 20 points, all against teams with losing records while allowing 90 or fewer.

The easy win allowed Rose, who left the previous game with back spasms, to sit out the fourth quarter. He finished with six points, six assists and five rebounds in 22 minutes.

"The back was kind of tight," Rose said. "(Coach Tom Thibodeau) did a great job of managing my minutes when he saw we had the game put away."

The reigning league MVP recently returned after missing four games due to a sprained left big toe. He played less than 11 minutes in Monday's 108-87 win over New Jersey.

"Give D-Rose a lot of credit, man. He's been playing through it for a while," said Carlos Boozer, who led the team with 18 points Wednesday. "Gutsy, gutsy dude, played through it again and then (backup) C.J. (Watson) came in and played great. ... I thought everybody from one through the whole team did a great job."

The Bulls (22-6), who will close the road trip against streaking Boston team on Sunday, hope to make it another early night for Rose on Friday.

Rose wasn't the only one who missed Chicago's 95-89 win over Charlotte on Jan. 21 with an injury, as Joakim Noah and reserves Taj Gibson and John Lucas sat out. Boozer scored 23 points while Luol Deng had 22.

The Bobcats (3-22), who have lost 12 in a row, could have a tough time trying to stop even a less-than-healthy Rose given their own injury issues.

Charlotte is coming off a 94-84 loss at Boston on Tuesday to finish a four-game road trip. After the game was close early, the Celtics opened the fourth quarter on a 13-2 run to take an 82-64 lead from which the Bobcats never recovered.

Reggie Williams scored 21 points and reserve Derrick Brown had 20, hitting all 10 field-goal attempts. Williams was making his second straight start in place of the injured Gerald Henderson, who is out two to four weeks with a right hamstring strain.

Charlotte is also without starting point guard D.J. Augustin, who has missed eight straight games with a toe injury.

The Bobcats, who averaged 78.5 points and shot 38.7 percent during the road trip, would match the franchise's longest losing streak - set Jan. 11-Feb. 1, 2006 - with a loss Friday.

"When you have to play your main guys for as long as we do, it gets kind of tough," coach Paul Silas said. "We've just got to keep battling."

The Bobcats, who are 2-8 at home, have lost three straight to the Bulls.

Bulls top Bobcats 95-64, move to 5-1 without Rose

By STEVE REED
Posted Feb 10 2012 10:40PM

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) Derrick Rose can afford to take a night or two off with the way the Chicago Bulls are playing - especially when the opponent is the worst team in the NBA.

Joakim Noah had 17 points and 14 rebounds, Carlos Boozer scored 16 points and the Bulls throttled the Charlotte Bobcats 95-64 Friday night despite the absence of their leading scorer and reigning league MVP.

The Bulls (23-6) won their fifth straight overall and improved to 5-1 this season without Rose, who sat out because of a lower back strain.

"Our depth is our greatest strength right now," Noah said. "Obviously we know that we need everybody healthy (come playoffs). This is definitely not a sprint, it's a marathon."

C.J. Watson started in Rose's place and played a near flawless game with seven points, five assists, four steals and no turnovers.

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said he likes what Watson brings to the table.

"C.J. was terrific in the playoffs and he had a very difficult job last year," Thibodeau said. "He was deserving of more minutes than he got but he handled short minutes great. He's done a great job with the second unit but he's shown that he can play with the first unit. He gives us multiple pick-and-rolls and also adds to our shooting, which I thought was a big concern. He gives us another 3-point shooter on the floor so we need to take advantage of that."

And he's quickly earned the respect of his teammates.

"He's stepped up every time we needed him to," Boozer said of Watson. "He's played great. C.J. could start for almost every other team in the NBA that doesn't have a starting point guard. We're very lucky to have him, to say the least."

Rose injured his back earlier in the week and was limited in a 90-67 win over New Orleans on Wednesday. Thibodeau said Rose would be a game-time decision against the Bobcats and decided to hold him out after watching him in warm-ups.

Clearly the Bulls didn't need him.

All-Star selection Luol Deng scored 10 of his 12 points in the first quarter, including a pair of key 3-pointers as the Bulls jumped out to a 30-16 lead. They were never challenged after that.

The Bulls extended the lead to 22 at halftime before pouring it on in the third quarter, pounding the ball inside to Noah and Boozer, who seemingly scored at will against a Bobcats frontcourt lacking in size and experience. That's been a persistent problem all season for the Bobcats since they allowed center Kwame Brown to leave via free agency.

Noah was dominant inside, hitting 7 of 9 shots as the Bulls' lead hovered around 30 for most of the second half.

Noah said the key for the Bulls has been playing fast and not giving defenses enough time to react and rotate.

"We're playing very well," Noah said. "We play off Booze(r) a lot and he demands a lot of attention. He either scores or kicks it out and that creates a lot of opportunities for everyone else."

John Lucas III added 11 points and Omer Asik had 12 rebounds for the Bulls.

"We do a great job of sharing the ball," Boozer said. "We still want to go inside out. We do a great job of making the extra pass on offense. Defensively we're still very sharp and getting better at our defensive scheme and still doing a great job of helping each other. We're a help-side defensive team and I think we're getting better and better at our system."

Charlotte posed no threat while dropping its 13th straight game.

Derrick Brown scored 10 points to lead the NBA-worst Bobcats, who shot 33 percent from the field and hit only 1 of 8 from 3-point range to fall to 3-23. Brown was the only Bobcats player to finish in double figures.

Corey Maggette returned to action after missing the last 19 games with a strained hamstring and had four points on 2-of-7 shooting in 14 minutes.

Prior to the game, Bobcats coach Paul Silas called the Bulls the most talented team in the league and they certainly left no doubt about this one early on.

The Bobcats even struggled from the free throw line with both Gana Diop and Bismack Biyombo shooting air balls from the stripe, drawing a mixture of chuckles and head-shaking disgust from the home crowd.

"It's just embarrassing," guard Kemba Walker said of the losing streak.

"We didn't have the aggressiveness rebounding the ball," Silas said. "We weren't really doing much at all. You have to give them credit. Defensively they really keep you on one side if they can. You've got to move the basketball. We held it too long. We got to move the basketball."

The Bobcats turned the ball over 16 times resulting in 27 points for the Bulls.

"We just threw the ball away with no real focus, you know, no concentration," Silas said. "It's really hard to explain. I really can't explain why because we go through our offense daily."

NOTES: The road only gets tougher for the Bobcats, who'll face two more division leaders in the Los Angeles Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers in their next two games at home. ... The Bulls have now won four straight road games - without a stop at home - by more than 20 points, an NBA record. ... Bobcats owner Michael Jordan was sitting courtside for Friday night's game but did not return for the second half.

Notebook: Bulls 95, Bobcats 64

Posted Friday February 10, 2012 10:52PM

By Derek Smith, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Joakim Noah led all scorers and rebounders with 17 points and 14 rebounds as the Chicago Bulls blew out the Charlotte Bobcats 95-64 Friday night at Time Warner Cable Arena. Chicago never trailed as they handed the Bobcats a team-worst 13th consecutive loss. The Bulls have won five straight including four in a row by at least 20 points.

QUOTABLE: "(Joakim Noah) was great in every aspect tonight. He ran the court. He played with energy. He was able to rebound and anchor the defense and did a nice job passing the ball."
-- Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau.

THE STAT: Derrick Brown was the lone Bobcat to score in double figures and managed just 10 points. Charlotte is last in the league in scoring at 86.3 points per game and is also being outscored by the largest margin of any team in the NBA at 14.2. The last time Charlotte scored 100 or more was in its 112-100 win over Golden State on January 14. The 64 points is their lowest scoring output this season.

TURNING POINT: This game was never in question, but the Bobcats lost all steam after Ronnie Brewer missed a dunk midway through the first quarter that ricocheted to Luol Deng who sank a three pointer. Chicago extended their lead on the following possession with another Deng three to make it 24-12. Chicago would never trail by less than 10 the rest of the game.

QUOTABLE II: "We did a good job out there. We came out from the start again and took the lead. We're not playing the score and are just working on what we need to do to get better while we're out there."
-- Bulls forward Deng.

HOT: Noah. The Bulls center was seven-of-nine from the floor with 17 points and had 14 rebounds. He also added three assists for the Bulls and was a constant defensive presence that helped limit the Bobcats to a season-low 64 points. It was his tenth double-double of the season.

INSIDE THE ARENA: It was NASCAR night at Time Warner Cable Arena. The Bobcats wore special NASCAR patches on their jerseys and every aspect of the game had a racing element to it. Team owner and former Chicago Bull Michael Jordan was in attendance, but abandoned his seats next to the Charlotte bench at the half with the Bobcats trailing by 22.

GOOD MOVE: Leaving Derrick Rose in street clothes. The Bulls All-Star point guard was originally in the starting lineup, but was pulled just prior to tip by coach Thibodeau. Rose has been limited by a lower back strain. Chicago is 4-1 without Rose in the lineup.

ROOKIE WATCH: Charlotte rookie Kemba Walker struggled with nine points on two-of-11 shooting. He did register five assists with no turnovers and grabbed four rebounds. The Bulls lone rookie Jimmy Butler scored four points and grabbed two rebounds in 17 minutes of action.

NOTABLE: Brown recorded double figure scoring for the eighth time in the last 10 games and the ninth time this season ... Bismack Biyombo had his third double-figure rebounding night ... Carols Boozer recorded his 24th game with double-figure scoring this season while Deng had his 18th ... C.J. Watson had a career-best four steals ... Thibodeau locked up head coach duties during the All-Star Game with the Bulls win tonight ... Chicago is now 14-5 on the road this season and 11-0 when it holds its opponent to less than 85 points.

UP NEXT: For the Bulls, Sunday @ Boston, Tuesday vs. Sacramento, Thursday vs. Boston. For the Bobcats, Saturday vs. Clippers, Monday vs. Sixers, Wednesday at Minnesota.

• Bulls: --
• Bobcats: Augustin, Henderson

• Bulls: --
• Bobcats: --

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 0

• Arena: Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte, NC
• Officials: #19 James Capers, #29 Mark Lindsay, #70 Brent Barnaky
• Attendance: 19379
• Duration: 2:04