FINAL FROM THE UNITED CENTER: Detroit 112, Bulls 104. (Bulls: 19-48, 8-26 at home)
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: LaVine: 24 points. Detroit: Griffin: 27 points.
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Dunn: 7. Detroit: Drummond: 24.
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: Porter: 8. Detroit: Smith: 7.
CCI RECAP: The alarm clock woke up the Pistons in the second half as Detroit outscored the Bulls 63-38. The Pistons two franchise players: Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin took over combining for 47 points. Drummond with another 20-20 game against the Bulls as he hauled in 24 rebounds. Griffin scored 16 fourth-quarter points. The Bulls appeared to be on their way to their first win over Detroit this season leading by 17 at the break. Otto Porter Jr. had the mojo going with 16 of his 23 points at the intermission and Zach LaVine was en route to another LaVine type game (24-6-2) but Detroit had other plans and those plans were simple; post up Griffin and Drummond and employ power ball. It worked. Drummond recorded his 17th straight double-double game. The Pistons bench outscored the Bulls reserves 38-19.
The Pistons have now won four straight and 11-2 in their last 13 games.
CCI IN THE LOCKER ROOM: "I’m hoping this is a learning moment. We played about as well in the first half as well as you can play. We came out in the third quarter, I thought our energy was poor." - Coach Boylen
UP NEXT: At Detroit, Sunday.
CCI 24 SECONDS NBA NEWS AND NOTES
Houston 107, Philadelphia 91: No Embiid...no win for the 76ers. James Harden with 31 points and 10 rebounds as Houston won its seventh straight.
Golden State 122, Denver 105: Did the Warriors send a message to the Nuggets? Was this a statement game? Klay Thompson scored 27 of his 39 points in the first half.
Los Angeles Clippers 118, Oklahoma City 110: Lou Williams scored 40 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and dished out 4 assists. The Clippers attempted 46 free throws. LAC has won four straight and seven of nine.
Orlando 111, Dallas 106: Terrence Ross is hoopin' and believe me when Ross is in the zone he can flat out score. Ross with 22 as the Magic won for the 11th time in the last 16 games. The Mavs have dropped four straight and 9 of 10. Rookie Jalen Brunson scored 18 points and dished out nine assists. Dirk Nowitzki played in his 1,505 NBA game, third all-time .
Charlotte 112, Washington 111: Marvin Williams scored a season-high 30 points, nailing seven-three pointers. BP had a 23-9 game for the Wizards. Washington has lost eight of its last 10 games.
Miami 126, Cleveland 110: The Heat beat the Cavs at home for the 16th consecutive time. Cleveland was officially eliminated from the playoffs.
Memphis 114, Utah 104: The Grizzlies are fortunate to have acquired Jonas Valanciunas away from the Raps. He’s playing very well as he tossed in 27 points.
Toronto 127, New Orleans 104: No Davis. No Holiday. No chance for a win for the Pelicans. Kawhi Leonard with 31.
I love our fans and last night, two of our more ardent supporters, Dr. Ron Severino and his son Frankie caught the Bulls-Pistons game. Frankie celebrated his 15th birthday and is a huge Robin Lopez fan. Aren’t we all? I truly care about our fans and I appreciate you!<p
Thanks for reading CCI. Reach out at cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter: @ctsbulls. Always a pleasure!