Wed, 12/15 Bulls vs Lakers

vs


Game 23, Home Game 11
Tuesday, December 15, 2009 – 7:00 PM CT
United Center
WGN America / ESPN 1000 AM


BULLS VS. LAKERS ALL-TIME
ALL-TIME ...................... Bulls trail 54-82
BULLS CURRENT STREAK .. 5 Losses
BULLS HOME STREAK ......... 2 Losses
BULLS ROAD STREAK .......... 4 Losses

BULLS VS. LAKERS THIS SEASON
Nov. 19 @ Los Angeles – LAKERS WON 108-93
Dec. 15 @ Chicago –



Chicago Bulls (8-14)
Home 6-4
Road 2-10
Div 3-2
EConf 5-9
WConf 3-5

Bulls Averages:
PPG: 90.4 (Opp: 99.0)
RPG: 43.5 (Opp: 44.2)
APG: 19.7 (Opp: 22.2)
SPG: 6.9 (Opp: 7.7)
BPG: 6.0 (Opp: 6.0)
TO: 15.0 (Opp: 13.9)
FG%: .425 (Opp: .454)
FT%: .737 (Opp: .734)
3p%: .295 (Opp: .313)

Probable Bulls starters



Derrick Rose - PG
John Salmons - SG
Luol Deng - SF
Brad Millers - PF
Joakim Noah - C


Bulls Stats Leaders
Points: Deng 17.5, Rose 16.1
Rebounds: Noah 11.8, Deng 7.8
Assists: Rose 5.5, Hinrich 4.1
Steals: Salmons 1.73, Deng 1.23
Blocks: Thomas 1.75, Noah 1.73

FG%: Noah .500, Gibson .497
FT%: Pargo .929, Johnson .900
3FG%: Deng .450, Salmons .327

Injury report

Jerome James (right Achilles) is out.
Tyrus Thomas (broken arm) is out.

For a full report and the latest on Bulls' injuries, check out the AthletiCo Injury Report.



Los Angeles Lakers (18-4)
Home 15-2
Road 3-2
EConf 6-0
WConf 12-4

Probable Lakers starters
Derek Fisher - PG
Kobe Bryant - SG
Ron Artest - SF
Pau Gasol - PF
Andrew Bynum - C

Injury report
Kobe Bryant (avulsion fracture, right index finger) is probable.
DJ Mbenga (sprained right ankle) is day-to-day.
Luke Walton (pinched nerve, back) is out.

By Mike McGraw (Daily Herald)

Here's the latest sign of how far the Bulls have slipped: Tuesday's game between the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers and blowout-prone Bulls lost the fan vote to be shown nationwide on NBA TV.

The winner? New Jersey at Cleveland drew more support than Lakers-Bulls at the United Center, and the Lakers rarely lose an NBA TV fan vote.

Of course, the game will still be played. While the Bulls have dropped 10 of their last 12 games, with eight of the losses by at least 14 points, they can take some comfort in knowing that all of those blowouts happened either on the road or in the second leg of back-to-back games.

Neither of those characteristics apply Tuesday night, so the Bulls should have no excuses when it comes to playing a competitive game.

Right. No excuses. Only play hard against the Lakers.

Go Bulls!

Boxscore

Recap

By John Jackson (Chicago Suntimes

The NBA is a big-boy league, so there's no such thing as a moral victory. The Bulls' 96-87 loss Tuesday to the Los Angeles Lakers at the United Center goes down as just that -- a loss, their 11th in their last 13 games.

But even though they lost, the Bulls think they snapped out of their recent funk and would have beaten a lot of teams with their performance.

Just not the defending NBA champion Lakers on a night when Kobe Bryant exploded for 42 points despite playing with a broken index finger on his right (shooting) hand.

''Even though we lost, this was a winning-type effort,'' Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich said. ''I thought everybody played hard. You could tell there was a sense of urgency there.''

Coach Vinny Del Negro agreed.

''Our guys were fighting,'' he said. ''I'm pleased with the effort, not the outcome.''

The Bulls (8-15) were led by Luol Deng and Derrick Rose with 21 points apiece. Joakim Noah added a double-double with 11 points and 20 rebounds.

It is good that they played better. But it will be hard to win games while shooting .385, .182 on 3-pointers and only .688 for free throws. They need to improve their shooting percentages. Together with better defense, this is the only way for the Bulls to win some games.

By Sam Smith (Bulls Blog)

You have to hope what happened Tuesday in a hustling, determined Bulls effort, in the end a 96-87 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant’s 42 points, doesn’t become a habit.

Not the playing hard and competing, finally.

The being satisfied with it.

“We’ve just got to learn from this one and get better, improve,” said Joakim Noah, who was a hustling force with 11 points and 20 rebounds, 14 on the offensive boards, the most for a Bulls player in 12 years. “You’re getting blown out by 30 points how can you say we're improving? Tonight we can look at ourselves and say we gave everything we had (and) put ourselves in position where we had a chance. We can’t get down just missing open shots and some layups. If we bring that energy we should be happy with ourselves."

If this would become a habit, then the Bulls season are a totally loss. But I think this won't become a habit.

It was a lost opportunity, in some sense, as the Bulls got 96 shots to 79 for the Lakers, outrebounded them 51-37, had 14 blocks to five for the Lakers and had more points in the paint, fast break points and second chance points.

The biggest statistic is they scored more than us,” said Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro.

Noah was terrific. Derrick Rose, who suffered a strained rib and left the game for a time, and Luol Deng each had 21 points in a promising sign the way the team in the first three quarters opened the floor more for Rose and speeded up the game with fast breaks.