Behind the Box Score, where the Bulls are pretty awful



Portland 109,
Chicago 95
Chicago
played well for the first 18 minutes of this one, getting out and running (the
team has no offensive sets to speak of, so why not?) after actually playing
some capable defense for a change, but once Portland decided to pass on turning
the ball over, this became a one-sided affair.
The Bulls just don't have a clue, continually firing up the
lowest-yielding shot in basketball, the 20-foot jumper, while leaving guys open
all over the place on the other end. Poor effort, no basketball smarts, Tyrus
Thomas (pictured, right) with three points and two rebounds in over 24 minutes,Wave Ignitus 2 FG, poor rotations,
21-footers, poor coaching. We told you that a good coach could do something
with this team, and there you go. 16-22.
11-23 shooting from behind the arc for Portland, but really, they should have done
better considering the time and space they had to consider these shots. Should
have been a free throw-like 20 of 23.
Travis Outlaw went off for 33, as a reserve, though you hate
to see LaMarcus Aldridge continually taken out of games like this. Pushed
around a bit by Thomas, he finished with just eight points and six rebounds in
almost 41 minutes.
Utah 120,New Mercurial Vapor Superfly III, Indiana
113
The Pacers came back to make a game of this, but they had no
chance on a night when Mehmet Okur just had it from beginning to end.
Okur finished the first half with 26 points, and as it is
with a lot of bigs, and especially a lot of big men who shoot from long range,
it wouldn't surprise to see "finished with 32 points,V Elastico Top, after a 26-point first
half" in the next day's write up. That's just how it goes when you need people
to get you the ball, or when you rely on the bomb.
But Okur was driving, using his height against Jeff Foster,
posting up at times, and tossing it in from all over. 43 points, on just 19
shots, with nine rebounds and only turnover. Positively Nowitzki-like.
The Pacers shot extremely well, but when you only get to the
line 19 times (against the Jazz, no less) while sending your opponent to the
stripe 37 times, it's hard to compete. The Pacers had their chances, as usual,
but little corners that need to be cut in the second and third quarters did
them in. 30 points for Danny Granger while Mike Dunleavy Jr. contributed 20 off
the bench
Deron Williams looked to be himself with 23 points, 11
assists, and one turnover, while Andrei Kirilenko was all over the place. 23
points, 12 rebounds (five offensive), three assists, zero turnovers, three
steals, three blocks. He shot 6-18, but I don't care. That was a ridiculous
line, and he was great to watch.
Milwaukee
97, Washington 91
Washington
looked sloppy, they looked like a team that couldn't concentrate, then the
Wizards looked like a team that couldn't miss, and then it looked like the far
inferior team. And, in the end, that last bit created the loss. Talent will
out.
The Bucks steadily came back from an Antawn Jamison/Nick
Young-derived deficit in the second half, showing sound patience and good ball
movement on top of its usual stout defense, registering 25 assists on 38
points. Jamison made 9-14 shots and Young really had his touch going with 30
points, but the non-Antawn/Nick Wizards shot 29.7 percent from the floor, and
the AP misspelled "Jameson" at the bottom of this
page.
Boston 115, Toronto
109 (OT)
Another fun, close one from these two, the third this
season, all Boston
wins.
That tends to happen when you continually find new ways to
ignore Paul Pierce on the perimeter, Pierce made his 39 points happen, but he
had a little help along the way. Any wrinkle in the Toronto defense seemed to end up with Pierce
moving into the open space and nailing the jumper, especially during overtime.
Credit the Raptor effort, I guess. Roko Ukic had another
strong game with 16 off the bench. Andrea Bargnani (23 points) stayed active,
and Anthony Parker nailed a couple of tough shots. The group is missing two
starters and playing the defending champs, making it to overtime. I can't
complain, but I feel like I should.
Pierce was fantastic, and signs of that old and necessary Boston aggression are
slowly showing up. The guys are taking more chances defensively, keeping the
dribble alive a bit more, and generally taking KG's lead again.
New Jersey 103,
Oklahoma City 99 (OT)
Once again, I shouldn't complain about this entertaining
game, one that saw a plucky upstart get taken to overtime by a plucky-plucky
upstart in its first season, but either team could have pulled out a 12-point
win in regulation had they just not screwed up so damn much.
Missed chippies, poor decisions, poor box-outs, poor
rotations, bad basketball. Not the worst you've ever seen, I really like
watching both these teams and Monday was no exception, but it was a little
frustrating to see braincramp after braincramp.
Our favorite BC, Brook Lopez, had a great game despite more
than a couple missteps, finishing with 31 and 13 in about 41 minutes. Just two
turnovers, and two blocks. Vince Carter (21 points, six steals) and Keyon
Dooling (14 and five assists) continue to lead with that Florida-bred magic,
keeping the Nets afloat despite an off night (7-22 shooting, 17 points) from
Devin Harris.
The Thunder held their own on the boards, got to the line,
took in 26 points from Kevin Durant on 20 shots, and enjoyed a nice bit of
production (11 points and nine assists) from Earl Watson. Looks like somebody wants to be traded for Jamaal
Magloire.
New York 101, New
Orleans 95
Your upset of the night. And while some are looking at New York's 30 assists on 39 field goals, or the fact that
they dropped 105 in a game with a pace much slower than the Knicks are used to,
I have to credit New Orleans'
miserable touch from the floor for the loss.
Let's not take away from New York's accomplishment. They were right
there in the rotation as David West (6-20 shooting) and Peja Stojakovic (3-12)
clanged away. The Knicks didn't exactly force the Hornets into horrible shots,
but they weren't exactly wallflowers either. Still, this was New Orleans' game to lose, and boy, did they
lose it.
On the other side, yes, New York seemed to have its spacing down all
night. Lanes were everywhere, David Lee (12-17 shooting) was always finishing,
and the Knicks even enjoyed a couple of clutch baskets from its worst shooters
(Al Harrington and Quentin Richardson, a combined 8-26 from the floor) at the
best time.
Impressive win, but not at all surprising when you consider
how many David West misses didn't even restart the shot clock.



Related: Behind the boxscore