That time of the year is finally upon us Bulls fans! The regular season tipped-off yesterday for the Bulls in a 104-80 annihilation of the New York Knicks. At one point Chicago was up by 35 points and the home-team fans decided to try and rally their Knicks back into the game with a series of boos (music to my ears).
In his return to regular season action, Derrick Rose, scored 13 points, recorded five assists, and also came up with a couple of steals on the defensive end. Solid performance considering Mr. Rose spent most of the second half on the bench, and ended the game only logging 21 minutes of playing time.
Every Bulls fan on the planet should be absolutely ecstatic that Mr. Rose only had to contribute 13 points to get Chicago a 24-point win. That's only 12.5% of the offensive load falling on Mr. Rose's shoulders, compared to the 25.9% he contributed per game in his stellar 2010-2011 MVP season.
Chicago really made a statement last night with their depth. Pau Gasol had a terrific debut for the Bulls with 21 points and 11 boards (4 offensive). Taj Gibson had the game-high coming off the bench with 22 points to go along with 8 rebounds (please send him the 6th Man of the Year award if you would NBA).
Chicago also received 12 points from both Kirk Hinrich and rookie sensation Doug "The Flamethrower" McDermott. The Bulls just seemed to dominate New York from start to finish, executing their gameplan on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball.
As a team the Bulls played exceptionally well on defense, holding the Knicks to just 36.5% shooting from the floor, and also hustled out to contest three point shooters forcing a 3-17 (17.6%) performance. Carmelo Anthony only managed to put up 14 points against the Bulls' tough defense.
It may be early but Coach Thibodeau has his players playing in mid-season form, and with arguably the deepest bench in the NBA at his disposal, things are looking great in Chicago.
Oh, and one more thing, Chicago not only handed New York a semi-embarrassing home opening loss, but the Bulls did so without Jimmy Butler! Yeah, things are looking real good Chicago.
Thanks for the great season opener gentlemen.
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