It was an Eastern Conference showdown with two power teams battling it out on the boards, but only one came up a winner; the Chicago Bulls.
The Bulls overpowered the Boston Celtics, the current top team in the Eastern Conference, 90-79 after losing two of their last three meetings and breaking a two-game road losing streak. Carlos Boozer attained another double-double in points and rebounds, and Derrick Rose scored a team high 36 points. Despite a big game from those two players the Bulls still won as a team Saturday night.
The Celtics snuck out to an early six point lead, but the Bulls were relentless and stuck with them throughout the first half.
"I like the way we played tonight," Tom Thibodeau, the Bulls head coach, said. "I thought we played a well balanced game."
And they did. The Bulls played well on both offense and defense, with the exception of 21 turnovers, resulting in 19 of the Celtics 79 points.
"I didn't like the way we took care of the ball," Thibodeau said. "The turnovers were a problem for us."
Not much of a problem though. The Bulls ended up pulling off a "W" against a team that has won 7 of its last 10 and scored over 100 points in their last two games . The Bulls held them to a meager 79 points Saturday night.
Kurt Thomas, the Bulls' center, said that "mistakes are gonna happen" but they need to cut down on the mistakes and quit forcing plays.
"[We need] to continue to just protect the ball," he said.
Thibodeau also said the team had a lot better energy tonight than they did in their last two appearances.
The Bulls showed more energy coming out of halftime than they have in the previous two games against the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Nets. In both games the Bulls were outscored 32-18 in the third quarter. The Bulls were only outscored coming out of halftme 21-22 Saturday against the Celtics.
"At least we're making progress," Thibodeau said with a smile.
That they are. Leaps and bounds of progress. Beating the top team in the conference was huge step in the right direction. Thibodeau called it a great test for the Bulls.
"They're obviously a team that's had a lot of success. They're having a great year," he said.
Thomas also commented about the third quarter issues the Bulls had against the Nets and 76ers.
"We felt we had two bad third quarters in those two losses," Thomas said.
But he went on to say the offense wasn't the issue it was the defense.
"We just felt we made those corrections locking down on the defensive end of the court," Thomas said. "We felt the offense was fine and just continued to do what we've been doing out there and executing and just sharing the ball with each other."
He went up against Shaquille O'Neal, who sat the bench after four personal fouls and only after 19 min., on the offensive and defensive ends of the court tonight and out rebounded him eight to four. But talking to Thomas it's not about the match up, it's about the result.
"It's just a game," he said. "Just doing whatever I can to help my team win. It's not really about a battle between me and Shaquille. I'm just trying to be aggressive and do whatever I can to help my team win."
The defense from the past couple of games needed work though. Boozer said that's exactly what they did.
"We put a lot into it," he said. "We did a great job of talking out there. Trying to see the play that they're gonna run before it happens...and we were well prepared."
Holding the Celtics to only 79 points was an exciting feat, Boozer said. He added they played as a team tonight and won as a team. But "looking forward" they need to continue to play like they did Saturday night.
"If we can play the Celtics like this we oughta be able to play every team like this," Boozer said.
The Bulls face the Detroit Pistons on Monday. The Pistons just snapped a three-game losing streak of their own and are looking to continue it against the Bulls. The two teams have already played twice this season and the Bulls have won both encounters.
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