Bulls Beat Bucks 108-95, Win 2008-9 Home Opener
Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 | NBA, Sports
The Chicago Bulls defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 108-95 in the Bulls home opener at the United Center. The night also capped off the highly anticipated debut of the Bulls 2008 #1 draft pick from Chicago – point guard Derrick Rose. After shaking off his understandable nerves, Rose responded with 11 points, 9 assists, 3 steals and only 4 turnovers. His 9 assists was the 2nd most assists in an NBA debut by any player in the history of the league (LeBron James also had 9 assists in his debut with the Cleveland Cavaliers). Six Bulls players scored in double figures. Luol Deng led the team with 21 points, while Ben Gordon added 18 points off the bench. Tyrus Thomas had a double-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 1 blocked shot. Kirk Hinrich also had a solid game off the bench with 15 points and 7 assists.
The team effort was a pleasant surprise for Head Coach Vinny Del Negro who was making his head coaching debut in front of the hometown crowd at the UC. Because of injuries that plagued the team all pre-season, this was the first time that Del Negro had the full rotation of players (save Larry Hughes) at his disposal. And Del Negro used it to his advantage, mixing in players to take advantage of key match-up situations and the poor defense played by the Bucks. The fresh rotation of players allowed the Bulls to stay on top for most of the game – the Bulls outscored the Bucks in each of the 4 quarters played.
Michael Redd led the Bucks with 30 points, while newcomer Richard Jefferson added 15 points and 4 rebounds.
Next up for the Bulls – the defending Champion Boston Celtics who raised their 17th NBA Championship Banner on Tuesday night and then went on to defeat LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in front of a raucous Boston crowd. The Celtics play good team defense, so we shouldn’t expect another 108 point outburst, especially on the road. But for one night, the Bulls came out on top, they played team basketball and they won a game that they should have won. That wasn’t the case during the 2007-8 season, so it’s good to see that the Bulls still have the confidence and the experience to get the job done down the stretch.
