First-year coach Vinny Del Negro almost never criticizes one of his players in the media. But Del Negro hasn't shown any hesitation to send messages to players using playing time.
Last Saturday at Atlanta, center Joakim Noah didn't record a single statistic during a 5-1/2 minute run in the first half. After halftime, Del Negro ignored Noah and instead sent in seldom-used forward Cedric Simmons for four minutes. On Monday against New Jersey, Noah made sure that didn't happen again. He had a productive game, finishing with eight points, seven assists and four blocks, and stayed on the floor for 32 minutes.
The Bulls (14-17) received good bench production against the Nets, with forward Andres Nocioni and guard Larry Hughes adding 17 points each. They also finally managed to turn up the defensive pressure with a game on the line, limiting New Jersey to just a single free throw in the final four minutes.
Now that their seven-game road losing streak is over, the Bulls will return home to face Orlando on Wednesday in a New Year's Eve matinee.
Magic center Dwight Howard always gives the Bulls trouble, but when these teams met in Orlando on Nov. 3, the Bulls rallied from 17 points down before finally losing 96-93.
BULLS 100, NETS 87: The Bulls finally did what they needed to do down the stretch and snapped a seven-game road losing streak by beating New Jersey 100-87 on Monday at the Izod Center. This game was tied at 86-86 after Nets center Josh Boone's dunk with 4:35 remaining. But the Bulls finished with a 14-1 run, which included a pair of three-pointers from Ben Gordon, who led the Bulls with 24 points. Guard Derrick Rose knocked down the go-ahead jumper and collected a season-high 13 assists to go with 21 points. Vince Carter scored 31 for New Jersey.
