Chicago Bulls Weekly: Tom Thibodeau Not Taking The Bait On Coaching Future
By Phil Watson
Los Angeles Clippers 112, Bulls 95: Friday, Jan. 24 (United Center, Chicago)
The Bulls came in winners of three straight, while Los Angeles arrived off a loss at Charlotte on Wednesday.
The Clippers came out on fire, hitting 14-of-19 overall and 7-of-8 from long range to ring up 41 points in the first quarter—the most points the Bulls have allowed in any quarter this season—and took a 41-26 lead. J.J. Redick had 11 points, Blake Griffin had 10 points and five assists, Matt Barnes had nine points on 3-of-3 shooting from deep and Darren Collison tossed in seven points. Carlos Boozer tried to keep Chicago in it with 16 points and five rebounds and Joakim Noah scored six points.
The Bulls stopped the bleeding a bit in the second quarter. After Los Angeles led by as much as 21 points, Chicago rallied to cut the deficit to 68-55 at halftime. Taj Gibson had eight points for the Bulls, while Mike Dunleavy and Jimmy Butler had seven apiece. Jamal Crawford paced the Clippers with seven points in the period.
Los Angeles extended the lead to 17 points in the third period, but the Bulls rallied again to trail 92-80 at the quarter break. Dunleavy scored eight points and Boozer added six for Chicago. Collison scored 10 points and Griffin had six for the Clippers.
But L.A. pulled away in the fourth, getting six points and five boards from Griffin, while Crawford also had six points. Gibson scored six in the period for the Bulls.
Overall, Griffin finished with 26 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists for the Clippers. Crawford added 19 points, Redick had 18, Collison tossed in 17, Barnes had 13 and DeAndre Jordan had 10 points and 12 boards. Boozer led the Bulls with 22 points, Gibson added 18, Dunleavy scored 17 and Noah had 12 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists.
Los Angeles was 41-for-76 (53.9 percent) overall, a sizzling 13-for-21 (61.9 percent) from deep and 17-for-26 (65.4 percent) from the free-throw stripe. Chicago was 40-for-93 (43 percent), 6-for-19 (31.6 percent) and 9-for-11 (81.8 percent).
The Bulls won the boards 46-40, points in the paint 46-34 and second-chance points 24-11. The Clippers had a 13-6 edge on the break. Chicago’s eight turnovers turned into 15 L.A. points, while the Clippers turned it over just seven times, leading to four points for the Bulls.