Tonight, the Bulls gave tribute to the great Johnny Red Kerr, thanking him for all that he has done for the organization. The Bulls showed their gratitude for Kerr by giving him a game to remember by beating the Pistons 107 to 102 at the United Center.

It looked like it was going to be another one of those nights where the Bulls just didn’t bring it, as they fell down by 15 in the second half. But the Bulls really turned it on in the fourth quarter to make it a close game.

The early credit has to go to Tyrus Thomas, who was big in helping the Bulls to start chipping away the lead. Him and Noah were also making the big defensive stops down the stretch. Then Derrick Rose stepped up by making some baskets, including a midrange jumpshot to bring the Bulls within one, with a score of 102 to 101.

The Pistons then had a chance to build up their lead, but Rasheed Wallace got greedy, taking a stupid, fallaway three in the corner after bobbling a pass. The Bulls called a rebound and called a timeout.

So were the Bulls going to shake things up at the end this time around? Of course not. This game looked like it was going to end just like many other close games before it this season. Derrick Rose went to the basket and got blocked. We’ve all seen this scene many times before. But something different happened this time. The ball bounced back to Rose and he caught a wide open Ben Gordon in the corner. Gordon rose up for three, causing Stuckey, who went in to go for the rebound, to rush out to Gordon, fouling Gordon, who sunk the game winner with that three. Gordon then sank the free throw to give the Bulls a solid three point lead. This is Gordon’s second four point play in a crucial moment this season, previously doing it against the Clippers to tie the game and bring it into overtime.

BrooklynBulls of the RealGM forums sums up Gordon’s clutch exploits the best, saying, “Ben Gordon is a bundle of muscle and clutch. That’s all he’s made of. Drink BG7 energy drink, you’ll grow a pair of balls on your balls.”

Ben Gordon came out aggressive tonight. You could tell from the get go that he wanted to be the star of this game. He wanted to have a big performance on Johnny Red Kerr Tribute night in front of many important basketball people. Gordon had an up and down game, scoring 24 points on 8-18 shooting with 5 turnovers. A lot of turnovers that Gordon had were on drives to the basket where Gordon was expecting to get a foul, but the refs didn’t call the fouls. While Gordon wasn’t great throughout the entirety of the game, this was his best game of the season, because he made the big shots when it mattered.

Derrick Rose had a really nice game as well, scoring 23 points and passing for 4 assists. He had some trouble guarding Stuckey in the first quarter, leading to some early foul trouble, but he picked up his defense as the game went on. Rose left the game left with seconds left after running into McDyess’ shoulder on what looked like a moving screen. Rose left the game sobbing.

And this win wouldn’t have been possible without the Bulls front court duo, which is starting to play very well. Tyrus Thomas had 22 points and 10 rebounds and Joakim Noah added in 12 points and 16 rebounds. They are both starting to make those easy baskets around the basket and they both are playing good defense and making solid hustle plays.

If Steve Kerr was planning on trading Amare Stoudemire to the Bulls, he probably wishes he had done so before this game, because Noah and Thomas both upped their value a little bit more. While I think Thomas and Noah are playing at a good level, I still would include both of them in a trade for Stoudemire if that is what’s needed to get a trade done. Conglomerations of superstars generally win in the NBA, and the Bulls would have a good superstar duo in Derrick Rose and Amare Stoudemire, as well as the super role player, Ben Gordon, to build around. Noah and Thomas’ play tonight should help solidify a package that includes both Thomas and Noah as the best package out there.

After a hot start to the game, the Bulls slowed down Rodney Stuckey, limiting him to 16 points on 6-16 shooting. His backcourt counterpart, Rip Hamilton had a great game, scoring 30 points on 11-21 shooting.

Rasheed Wallace gave the Bulls fits in the third quarter, but the Bulls prevented Wallace from making big plays down the stretch. Wallace finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Andres Nocioni had an efficient 14 points tonight on 5-6 shooting. Kirk Hinrich added in 5 points and 5 assists.

Tayshaun Prince had 16 points for the Pistons.

Luol Deng was pathetic tonight, scoring 7 points on 1-7 shooting. He played some selfish ball, forcing up bad shots, instead of passing to his teammates, and he really didn’t move without the ball all that much.

At halftime, the Bulls held a tribute ceremony for Johnny Red Kerr that was emceed by Neil Funk. During the ceremony, the Bulls unveiled the statue they made in the likeness of Kerr. The speakers for the event included Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Jerry Colangelo, Dolph Schayes, and John Paxson. President Barack Obama sent a video message that was played as well.

Allen Iverson sat out the game with the flu.

With this win, the Bulls improve to 23-29 on the season.

Similar Posts:

• Chicago Bulls 91 at Detroit Pistons 88
• Chicago Bulls 99 vs. Detroit Pistons 91
• Chicago Bulls 98 at Detroit Pistons 104
• 2009-2010 Season: Chicago Bulls 92 vs. Detroit Pistons 85
• Dallas Mavericks 115 vs. Chicago Bulls 114 in OT

Tags: Barack Obama, Ben Gordon, Chicago Bulls, crying, Derrick Rose, Detroit Pistons, Dolph Schayes, four point play, Game Winner, Jerry Colangelo, Joakim Noah, John Paxson, Johnny Red Kerr, Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng, Michael Jordan, Rasheed Wallace, Rip Hamilton, Rodney Stuckey, Scottie Pippen, Tayshaun Prince, Tyrus Thomas

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 11:24 pm 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.