Playing Well With a Stretch

It seems like the Bulls playing with few bodies is a time normally reserved for the playoffs.  Sometimes however, Tom Thibodeau is faced with that during the regular 82-game stretch.  Such was the case tonight against the Atlanta Hawks with Jimmy Butler missing his second straight game with a rib bruise.  But it didn't hurt by virtue of a 107-103 victory.

Of the eight players who saw minutes, seven reached double figures, a far cry from when the offense sputtered in Sunday's loss to Miami.  After finishing the first quarter down 10, the Bulls exploded for 34 points in the second to take a three-point halftime lead.  From there, they countered just enough of the Hawks' attack to send the "big" Philips Arena crowd of 12,418 home unhappy.

Leading the Bulls in the scoring column was Mike Dunleavy with 22.  He shot 4-of-9 from three-point land and made all six of his free throws.  Joakim Noah celebrated his 29th birthday in style with a double-double of 20 and 12.  Carlos Boozer, who has to be worried about Noah outsourcing him as the nightly go-to double-double player on this team, countered his frontcourt mate with 17 and 11.  Taj Gibson nearly joined those two at 14 and 8.  D.J. Augustin, desperate to shake his poor shooting performance against the Heat, scored 10 and dished out six assists.  There was a lot of redemption for the last game's nationally televised embarrassment.

As well as the Bulls have been playing lately, they always need something to get them back up whenever they have a clunker, such is the case with this Sunday.  In this case, it took an opponent currently in the bottom half of the Eastern playoff picture to cure what ailed them.  Plus, to get so much productivity from only a few bodies can only be encouraging.  That's not to say we'll see that every night unfortunately, but this game can serve as a reminder of how this team can go off at any time.  It's also refreshing to see so few bodies dig deep and come together without even realizing it beforehand.

There's no time to enjoy this win.  The Bulls get right back at it tomorrow at the United Center against the Golden State Warriors.  A lot of young, productive talent on both sides will be under one roof.  There isn't quite as much on the Bulls' side right now, but hopefully, it won't matter and they'll come out on top.