The Chicago Bulls defeated the Phoenix Suns 100-83 at the United Center last night. The Bulls are now 3-0 at home and 3-3 on the season.

Shaquille O’neal and Matt Barnes did not play for the Suns.

The Bulls held the Suns offense down with their suffocating defense. Kirk Hinrich led the Bulls defensive effort by shutting down Steve Nash. Kirk Hinrich finished the game with 5 steals.

Hinrich left the game with a wrist injury. He is having an MRI today and is doubtful for today’s game against the Cavaliers.

Vinny Del Negro moved Kirk Hinrich into the starting lineup. Aaron Gray also was moved into the starting lineup.

Off the bench, Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah both had good games. Tyrus Thomas had 14 points and 7 rebounds and Joakim Noah had 9 points and 14 rebounds. Noah struggled with his free throw shooting.

The story of the game for the Bulls was the great play of guards Derrick Rose and Ben Gordon. Rose finished with 18 points and 6 assists and Gordon finshed with 23 points and 6 assists.

The two players split point guard duties throughout the game. This was great to watch as the Bulls were able to get different offensive looks. Ben Gordon played more of the Gilbert Arenas point guard role while Derrick Rose playe a Dwyane Wade/Young Steve Francis type of role.

Each player takes a lot of defensive attention off of the other, allowing them to effectively operate one on one. There are very few players that can guard Rose or Gordon one on one in the NBA.

Derrick Rose also looked for Ben Gordon out at the three point line whenever he drove the ball.

This has been one of the Bulls’ biggest weaknesses, that they cannot effectively find Gordon for those open three point shots. When Deng, Thomas, Noah, Gray, or Gooden have the balls, Gordon will be wide open for three somewhere on the court, but none of these players possess the court vision to pass to Ben. Well that, or they think that Ben has already taken his fair share of shots. It’s really nice to see a player like Rose feed it to Gordon like that.

Ben Gordon also had another great defensive performance. If the early trend keeps up, we will be able to officially dub Ben Gordon a good defender in the NBA.

Derrick Rose and Ben Gordon already look like one of the best backcourt duos in the NBA. It’ll be exciting to see how great they can be when Rose has had a few more years of seasoning in the league and is, I would assume, a much better player than he is now.

A very good win for the Bulls. The Bulls take on Cleveland tonight at the United Center.