The Chicago Bulls are now No. 1 in the entire Eastern Conference, thanks to a 98-79 drubbing of the Washington Wizards on Tuesday. The Bulls were led in the scoring ledger by Derrick Rose (23 points on 21 field goal attempts) and Luol Deng (20 points on 19 FGAs), but Taj Gibson and Kurt Thomas may have been the real heroes. Carlos Boozer remains out and Joakim Noah missed the game with flu-like symptoms. That opened the door for the two reserves to start and, frankly, dominated the glass. The Bulls had 20 offensive rebounds in 52 opportunities; Gibson had five and wily Thomas had seven.
Wizards Vs. Bulls: Derrick Rose, Reserve Big Men Lead Chicago Over Washington, Into First Place
The wonderful work on the offensive glass helped the Bulls make up for a 40-percent night from the floor. Chicago also helped itself by limiting turnovers (just 12) and nailing its three-pointers at a decent clip (12-32, 37 percent).
The Wizards only shot 43 percent from the floor themselves, and had 10 offensive rebounds and 16 turnovers. Jordan Crawford blurted out 27 points in starting for injured Nick Young. JaVale McGee joined him in the "pleasant performance in a loss" category, breaking out the rare dirty triple-double with 11 points, 12 rebounds and 12 blocks. That's the highest block total for one game in just a shade under 10 years; Keon Clark racked up 12 in 28 minutes in a game in March 2001.
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