December 5th, 2005
Dallas (118) at Chicago (121)
Bulls late rally seals fifth straight
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Chicago's winning ways continued against Dallas after a fourth quarter charge led by Ben Gordon gave them their fifth straight win. Both teams had six players in double digits in the high scoring contest, with Nowitzki and Gordon leading all scorers with 31 apiece.
The game appeared to be heading towards an overtime during the fourth quarter shootout when the Bulls tied the game at 109 with just over three minutes remaining, but with Jason Terry's three pointer giving Dallas a one point advantage the teams began trading the lead on each possession. After a timeout, Gordon made a layup with 23 seconds left to put the Bulls ahead for good. After Nowitzki's 15 foot jumper came up short, the Mavericks sent Andres Nocioni to the foul line where he sank both free throws. With no timeouts remaining Dallas raced up court and found Josh Howard for a three point attempt that was off target.
Coach's Diary
December 5th - Really starting to roll
Tonight was another big win for us. We're up in the top eight in the East, we're a game about .500 and we didn't fold when Dallas took a couple of big leads. I was a lot happier with the scoring distribution compared to the Pistons game. We'll take a win however we can get it but we'll win more this way. I didn't go too deep tonight but I had to go with the lineup that was working almost the whole way. There wasn't much of a window for giving the starters much rest.
This Friday will be a special night. Scottie Pippen's jersey retirement ceremony. I'm looking forward to being a part of such a special occasion. Hopefully we'll be able to cap it off with a win as well. But first we've got the Orlando Magic on the road. They're 3-14 but we can't afford to be complacent.
December 7th, 2005
Chicago (142) at Orlando (145)
Magic snap Bulls' streak
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The Bulls were unable to extend their winning streak to six as the Orlando Magic triumphed in spectacular fashion Wednesday night. Steve Francis scored 31 points including 13 in the fourth quarter as the struggling Magic narrowly avoided blowing a 23 point lead instead holding on to defeat Chicago by three.
Orlando was impressive from start to finish, capitalising on early foul trouble to Ben Gordon and Andres Nocioni. The Magic scored 36 first quarter points and followed up with 42 in the second quarter for an amazing 78 first half points. Chicago would rally in the third quarter and continue their run early in the fourth behind Chris Duhon, who finished with a season high 30 points and 13 assists.
However, Chicago had no answer for Dwight Howard who simply abused the Bulls' big men inside scoring on 18 of his 23 field goal attempts which included an array of powerful dunks. He was also a beast on the boards with 8 of his 11 rebounds coming at the offensive end. Seven players scored in double figures for the Magic led by Howard's 39.
Chicago held the lead for a possession in the fourth quarter but Francis swooped to the hoop for a couple of dunks, drawing a foul for a three point play each time. Forced to foul in the final seconds, Chicago had a chance when Deshawn Stevenson missed a free throw but Nocioni unknowingly called a timeout when the Bulls had none left. Francis sank the technical free throw and the Magic ran out the final two seconds for the victory.
Coach's Diary
December 7th - Stopped in our tracks
Tonight's loss was disappointing, plain and simple. We had a really good run there in the second half and might have taken it if not for a couple of critical turnovers and shooting fouls. But the fact of the matter is Orlando should not have been able to score 78 points in the first half. After the way we were able to stick with teams like Detroit and Dallas, we shouldn't have been run over like that by the Magic.
But, the season is still young and these things will happen. We were able to put together a five game winning streak and we're not doing too badly at .500 given our start to the year. Chris played a fantastic game, I hope we can continue to see great things from him. It's a matter of finding him that 25-30 minutes per game without taking productive minutes away from Ben and Kirk. If it didn't leave us so small, I'd be inclined to run the three of them together more often.
Lakers are up next, with Pip's jersey retirement ceremony at halftime. I'm hoping we make it a great night.
December 9th, 2005
LA Lakers (115) at Chicago (135)
Bulls rout Lakers as Pip is honoured
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It was a night of celebration for Chicago. After retiring Scottie Pippen's famous number 33 at halftime, the Bulls proceeded to dominate the Lakers in the final two quarters emerging with a 135-115 victory. Chris Duhon made his first start of the season and scored 15 points in addition to dishing out 10 assists and grabbing 3 rebounds.
The altered lineup did not appear to be working in the Bulls' favour in the first quarter however. Los Angeles took advantage of having the bigger team by crashing the boards and feeding the post, jumping out to an 18-8 lead early on. The Bulls eventually found their rhythm but Kobe Bryant's 11 first quarter points helped the Lakers maintain a seven point lead at the break. The two teams matched each other's total in the second quarter keeping the deficit at seven.
During the halftime ceremony to honour Pippen, several former Bulls players appeared including Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman and Horace Grant. Phil Jackson also took part in the festivities and spoke warmly of Pippen's leadership and abilities on the court. Michael Jordan called Pippen his "brother" and lauded his former teammate's accomplishments. Finally, an emotional Pippen addressed the crowd, thanking them for their support. He also praised Jordan and Jaxson, calling Jordan "the greatest ever" and thanking Jackson for helping him be the best Scottie Pippen possible.
Perhaps inspired by the moving ceremony filled with tributes, the Bulls poured in an amazing 50 points in the third quarter, led by Gordon and Kemp with 10 apiece. The Lakers could never quite recover and the starters were pulled with 7 minutes remaining in the fourth as Chicago cruised to an easy 20 point victory. Kobe Bryant led all scorers with 40 points but was unable to get the Lakers back into the game after the third quarter blowout.
Scottie Pippen was honoured at halftime
Pippen's #33 now hangs from the rafters in the United Center
Coach's Diary
December 9th - What a night!
Tonight was extremely gratifying. It was an honour to be a part of Scottie Pippen's special night. It was very emotional to watch his #33 be unveiled alongside Michael Jordan's #23 in the rafters of the United Center. It's difficult to sum up what Pip meant to this franchise back in the 90s in just a few paragraphs. This is a fitting tribute for a great person. It was great to see MJ speak so highly of his former teammate and for Pip to return to the compliment referring to MJ as the greatest to play the game. It was great to see the former Bulls out there honouring Pippen. And the crowd reaction was simply fantastic.
I think we rode that into the third quarter. I couldn't believe it when we scored 50 points but that's just how hot we were. It may not have been pretty the whole way but we got the job done and we avoided any kind of troublesome fourth quarter run by the Lakers in the fourth. Another fine game from Chris, Ben was Ben and it seemed everyone came to play tonight. The experiment with the small lineup was costly in the first quarter though. I'd really like to run that more often but it may be problematic as a starting five. We're just giving up too much size. But I'll definitely run it more often and try to get Chris as much PT as possible. He's really playing well right now.
Shawn scored 20 points VERY quietly tonight. That's been the way all season though. When he scored 28 in the Pistons game he seemed to do so effortlessly and very much under the radar. I think that works to our advantage. Obviously we won't shoot this well every game but I really liked the shot distribution tonight. The Orlando game was a disappointment but it's clear we're not going to let a loss here and there rattle us.
I'm glad we were able to win this one so easily, it's the first of a back-to-back and right now I'd feel a lot more comfortable if we can string a few more wins together. Washington poses an interesting challenge. With Jeffries playing in the backcourt this year we're at a clear size disadvantage. We'll have to try and counteract that with quickness and cunning. The way we've been playing the last couple of weeks, I'm confident we can rise to the occasion.