With three players who have been starters this season sitting on the bench in Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, and Chris Duhon, the Bulls won. And won big. Not only did they hold leads, but they held on to the game in the fourth quarter, which has been one of their biggest downfalls all year. Kirk Hinrich scored a career high 38 points. When he wanted to score, he pretty much did against an Indiana Pacers team that beat the Bulls pretty bad last time they faced each other.
Hinrich was a leader out on the floor last night. He drove the lane and scored. He got rebounds. And he created chances for other players. If he can continue this style of play, the Bulls have some other pieces that can help him win. Joakim Noah, Thabo Sefalosha and Tyrus Thomas all looked good last night as well. Noah put up 15 boards and had some good low post scoring as well. Andres Nocioni put up 24 in the win. So the combo of Nocioni, Hinrich and Noah combined for 78 points.
Sure, the Pacers looked a little lethargic and uninterested at points. But a win is a win. Especially a team you are trailing in the playoff hunt. I know its probably a little early to truly consider this a playoff team, but they are in range of skating in. The biggest thing is for them to play well every game from now on. Its a tough thing to accomplish but after how good they looked last night and against Detroit recently, they could put together some good wins.
Jim Boylan sat Ben Wallace for most of the fourth quarter while Noah was out on the floor playing well. Big Ben had to watch a youngster do what he is paid a lot of money to do and can't. He rebounded well and set the pace for the Bulls a little. One concern I have though is that Adrian Griffin got a lot of playing time last night. In half the amount of time, Thomas got just as many points and more rebounds. Plus, Thomas can be an igniter. He has big play potential and he seems to have more energy. I wish I could have seen more of Noah, Sefalosha and Thomas on the floor together.
Anyway, it was a nice win with some good performances. The Bulls needed that win and they needed guys to step up. I am glad Kirk looked good last night and hopefully he can turn around his season after that. Sometimes it just takes one good performance to make someone remember. And I do believe that Joakim has earned himself some consistent playing time. I would like to see all the youngsters get more playing time. I think they have a lot of good qualities that mesh well together. Bring on the Bobcats.
