The Chicago Bulls defeated the Washington Wizards tonight at the United Center 117 to 110 in an ugly basketball game.

Ben Gordon had a really nice game for the Bulls. He finished with 21 points on 9-15 shooting, 7 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block. In the third quarter, Antonio Daniels made a drive to the basket and Ben Gordon met him at the rim and swatted away Daniel’s layup attempt, igniting a Bulls fastbreak. Following the block, Gordon did the Dikembe Mutumbo finger wave in Daniel’s direction. It was one of the greatest blocks in Bulls history.

His backcourt mate, Derrick Rose, also had a nice game. Rose finished the game with 15 points and 8 assists.

The third guard, Larry Hughes, also had a tremendous game. Hughes finished with 24 points, 5 assists, and 2 steals. The most impressive part about Hughes’ game tonight is that he shot 5 of 6 from three point. Hughes has just been playing great basketball as of late. Larry Hughes is not only easily the most talented potential third guard on the Bulls, but also the most effective, as he can play the point guard, shooting guard, and small forward positions, something Kirk Hinrich and Thabo Sefolosha cannot do. With Hughes’ great play, it is pretty clear that there won’t be minutes for Hinrich in the backcourt when he comes back.

Luol Deng put together a nice game for the second night in a row. Deng finished the game with 26 points on 11-19 shooting. He did his usual disappearing act in the fourth quarter, but if the Bulls get three great quarters out of Deng like in 2006-2007, then the Bulls are going to be a tough team to beat with Rose and Gordon’s great fourth quarter play.

Andres Nocioni also had a nice game, although he was bound to have one after about 9 horrific games. Nocioni finished the game with 19 points and 3 assists.

Vinny Del Negro opted to go small most of the game. It is hard to blame Vinny for this, the front court has been abominable all season long. They left Vinny with no choice. Aaron Gray got the start over Joakim Noah, who had a DNP - Coach’s Decision. Tyrus Thomas only played 5 minutes. The front court players who did play were useless for the most part, although Gooden had a solid 12 points and 10 rebounds. The front court defense is still non-existent.

Antawn Jamison had 23 points and 12 rebounds for the Wizards, and Caron Butler added in 27 points.

With the win, the Bulls improve to 9-11 on the season.

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Tags: Aaron Gray, Andres Nocioni, Antawn Jamison, Antonio Daniels, Ben Gordon, block, Caron Butler, Chicago Bulls, Derrick Rose, DNP - Coach's Decision, Drew Gooden, epic block, invisible man, Joakim Noah, Kirk Hinrich, Larry Hughes, Luol Deng, small ball, Thabo Sefolosha, Tyrus Thomas, United Center, Vinny Del Negro, Washington Wizards

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 7th, 2008 at 12:50 am and is filed under Game Recap. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.