The Chicago Bulls blew out the Orlando Magic 120 to 102 tonight, as they play strong to keep themselves in the playoff hunt.

The Bulls crept to some double digit leads in the second and third quarters, but Orlando wouldn’t go down without a fight. The Magic nearly tied the game, bringing the score to 83 to 82. Following that, Rose hit two big shots to give the Bulls a 5 point lead going into the fourth.

Then a lineup of Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, John Salmons, Tim Thomas, and Brad Miller/Joakim Noah led the Bulls to victory in the fourth, opening the game into a blowout.

Tonight was one of those nights where no one really played bad for the Bulls.

Derrick Rose struggled early in the game, but had an explosive 14 points in the third quarter, which were big in preserving the Bulls’ lead. Rose finished the game with 22 points and 5 assists.

Ben Gordon snuck under the radar tonight for an efficient 20 points on 9-14 shooting. He just played completely within the offense, and very rarely tried to create anything on his own.

Gordon was called for a type one flagrant foul, when he hammered Courtney Lee. It didn’t look like much of a flagrant foul, just a good old fashioned hard foul.

Kirk Hinrich had 6 points on 3-4 shooting. His defense was really bad for the first three quarters. He managed to give up 10 points to J.J. Redick, who scores almost exclusively on Hinrich. But Hinrich’s defense was big in the fourth quarter run that turned the game into a blowout. Hinrich forced a lot of Orlando turnovers in the fourth.

The Bulls young front court was solid. Tyrus Thomas had 11 points, and Joakim Noah added in 14 points and 8 rebounds. Noah really struggled guarding Dwight Howard. He’s just not strong enough to guard Howard.

Howard finished the game with 26 points and 12 rebounds. The Bulls got Howard into foul trouble, drawing 5 fouls on him. He got pretty much whatever he wanted against Noah, but struggled to score on Brad Miller.

And on that note, John Paxson’s trade is looking like a grandslam early on. The thing about the trade is the Bulls traded Andres Nocioni, a chucker who didn’t play defense and Drew Gooden, another chucker who didn’t play defense, along with a bunch of scrubs. In return, the Bulls received three legitimately talented NBA players.

The Bulls main nine man rotation currently is: Derrick Rose, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah, Kirk Hinrich, John Salmons, Tim Thomas, and Brad Miller. There is no question, all those guys are quality NBA players. John Paxson should be lauded for putting that group of players together.

Brad Miller’s defense on Dwight Howard was great. He is a legitimate center, and would not allow Howard to back him down. Miller finished with 9 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Two of his points came on a breakaway dunk after he stole the ball. Miller is just a good offensive big man. He can make both interior passes and passes out to the perimeter, he can set screens, and he knows how to cut to the basket. Having such a skilled center will really shape up the Bulls offense.

Tim Thomas was huge in the game. He was hitting big shot, after big shot in the fourth to help open up the big lead. Thomas finished with 17 points, going 4-6 from three point land. Thomas fills the Nocioni role quite well, as he is a bit of an upgrade over Nocioni.

The interesting thing about Thomas, is that he has been directing his new teammates while out on the floor, especially Derrick Rose.

John Salmons had 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. He dribbles around a lot, looking to create his own shot. It doesn’t quite kill the offense because he has the ability to make his shots, as well as make some nice passes when he is driving to the basket.

Hedo Turkoglu had 16 points for the Magic, and Courtney Lee added in 14 points.

Both Luol Deng and Rashard Lewis finished with 10 points.

At the end of the game, Del Negro subbed Rose in for Gordon to give Gordon the standing ovation. It’s a little weird that he didn’t use Anthony Roberson or Lindsey Hunter for the standing ovation sub.
With the win, the Bulls improve to 26-31 on the season. The Bulls are now 1.0 game behind Milwaukee for the 8th seed, and 2.0 games behind Detroit and Philadelphia for the 6th and 7th seeds.

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Tags: Ben Gordon, Brad Miller, Chicago Bulls, Courney Lee, Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard, flagrant foul, Hedo Turkoglu, Joakim Noah, John Salmons, Kirk Hinrich, Orlando Magic, Rashard Lewis, Tim Thomas, Tyrus Thomas, Vinny Del Negro

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