After beginning the season on the road, the Chicago Bulls returned home and beat the Memphis Grizzlies 104-64 on Sunday, Jan. 1.

It was a good way to kick off the New Year after a four-game California road trip.

The Bulls got on the board after two shots from the line by Luol Deng. The game remained tight for a few minutes but the Bulls took a lead and finished the first quarter with a 25-12 advantage.

In the second quarter, Carlos Boozer stepped up. In a 13-3 run around the six-minute mark, Boozer contributed 11 of the points and helped the Bulls take a 48-27 lead.

The Bulls entered halftime with a 54-28 advantage.

After the break, Derrick Rose showed up and got the quarter started with a jumper. Success at the line helped the Bulls extend their lead and with five minutes remaining in the third quarter, they were ahead by 40 points.

The Bench Mob successfully took over and the Bulls ended the third quarter leading 84-44.

In the final quarter, the starters continued resting and John Lucas got hot with three-pointers. Rookie Jimmy Butler got some playing time and an all-team effort led the Bulls to their first home game win of the season.

This is a team that’s on a mission to win. The Bulls dominated Sunday’s game: they outrebound 55-40, outshot 46 percent to 31 percent and outscored on the break, 33-13.

With their 4-1 record, the Bulls are seeing their best start since the 1996-97 season, as they won their first 12 games.

Scoring…Boozer led the team with 17 points in scoring and 11 rebounds. Ronnie Brewer also had 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

After initially struggling (missing his first shots, then going 4 for 10), Rose added 16 points for the night.

Rip Hamilton did not play on Sunday due to a groin injury and in the fourth quarter against Memphis, C.J. Watson exited the game with an elbow injury. Both players have been listed as day to day.

Next up? The Bulls will host Atlanta on Tuesday, Jan. 3.

As a lifelong Bulls fan and Chicago resident, the Derrick Rose era has been a good one.

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The Chicago Bulls could do no wrong Sunday in their season debut at the United Center, crushing the Memphis Grizzlies in a lopsided, 104-64 affair to open the New Year with a bang and send a simple message to visitors: This is our house, baby.

While there are plenty of positives from which to choose, the story of the night was the Bulls’ suffocating defense. It was, in a word, brutal: The Grizzlies managed just 12 first quarter points, and shortly before the end of the third quarter, were shooting 23 percent from the field with twice as many turnovers (12) as assists (6). Yikes.

On the other end of the floor, the Bulls were led by Carlos Boozer and Ronnie Brewer.

Boozer played like a man possessed: He double-doubled before halftime and finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds in just 24 minutes of action. He showed some of the explosiveness he’s recently lacked, and even made some decent defensive plays. He’s now averaging 15.4 points and 9.8 rebounds per 36, which is close to what the Bulls want, need and expect from their $70 million man.

Brewer, however, gets player of the game accolades. Starting for the sidelined Rip Hamilton (sore groin), Ronnie had 17 points (the most he’s ever had with the Bulls) with seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. Brewer was, well, vintage Brewer: Always around the ball making something good happen.

Overall, the Bulls’ offense was good but never great, which may sound strange for a 40-point win. They overcame a slow start shooting by sharing the ball (24 assists), using the fast break (33 points) and dominating the paint (+20). The Bulls have now averaged 108.7 ppg the past three games, and are averaging 101 ppg on the season, good for sixth best in the league (bet you didn’t expect that).

Not only did the Bulls get the win, they got it while getting a chance to rest their starters. Only two starters – Luol Deng and Brewer – played more than 30 minutes, as the Bench Mob closed out the game.

A win is a win, who cares if the Grizzlies were missing a couple of players, but this was a win at home, and a rather convincing one at that. The Bulls were a league-best 36-5 at home last season, and absolutely must win home games during this short NBA season.

Winning your home opener by 40 is a good way to get started.

Notes: The Bulls are 4-0 in home openers during the Derrick Rose era….. The +/-’s from last night’s game were utterly ridiculous. Brewer was +48, no other starter was less than +35….. Brewer is 4-for-4 on three’s this year; he made just six all of last season on 22 percent shooting….. Deng has held Rudy Gay, a career 18 ppg scorer, to 14 points on 3-of-22 shooting the last two times he played against the Bulls….. The win moved the Bulls to 4-1 for the franchise’s best start since 1996-97, when…well, you know….. The Bulls last played on New Year’s Day in 2005; Eddy Curry had 22 points in a 105-90 win over the Orlando Magic….. The Miami Heat may be 5-0, but the teams they’ve so far played are a combined 4-10.

Sources: Boozer leads Bulls past Grizzlies 104-64, Associated Press/Yahoo! Sports; Memphis Grizzlies at Chicago Bulls recap & box score, ESPN.com; Bulls win 40-point laugher in home opener, Chicago Tribune;

Other Articles By This Contributor:

Chalk One Up for Chicago Bulls Coach Tom Thibodeau (December 31)

Bulls, Heat Will Meet in Eastern Conference Finals: Fan Forecast (December 23)

Top 10 Moments of Chicago Bulls’ 2010-11 Season (December 22)

YCN featured sports contributor Steve Merritt is – for better or worse – a lifelong Chicago Bulls, Bears and Cubs fan. He’s followed the Bulls since 1969, when he tuned in after bedtime on a cheap dime store radio tucked under his pillow.

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Something is wrong right now with Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Against the Memphis Grizzlies, he finished the game 0-for-13 with only four points scored. Against the Dallas Mavericks, he finished the game 6-of-15 and against the Orlando Magic he finished 6-of-17.

Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
Wikimedia Commons

Over those three games, he is shooting 26-percent from the field.

He has also turned the ball over 25 times in the first four games of the season, an average of 6.25 a game. On a team less talented than the Thunder, those numbers from a starting point guard would mean a lot of losses. However, the Thunder have won all their games despite Westbrook’s poor play.

Actually, the Thunder won the games partially because of his play.

In the Memphis game, he only scored four points. However, two of those were in the final seconds when he shot two free throws that put the game out of reach for the Grizzlies. In the Mavericks game, he went 3-of-4 in the final quarter of the game, including a thunderous dunk. If he missed one of those final shots, Oklahoma City would have lost.

The big problem here is that the Thunder are good but they won’t continue to lead this charmed life unless Westbrook figures out what is wrong and fixes it.

In the game against Memphis, Westbrook was playing bad and ended up taking it out on his teammates, yelling at Thabo Sefolosha for not taking a shot that Westbrook thought he should and then having an argument with Kevin Durant, who was trying to defuse the situation.

In the Dallas game, it was the same old situation. Ever since the 2010-11 postseason, no one has made me yell at my television as much as Russell Westbrook. Here he was again, missing shot after shot. Instead of just playing around his difficulties, he raced down the court and missed a quick jumper, never even looking at his teammates. He wanted to fix his shooting problems so bad that it seemed to take over the game.

Between the Memphis and Dallas game, Westbrook missed 17 shots in a row. Since then, he made six of 12 and helped make sure the Thunder would win. One important thing to notice is that, when the fourth quarter came and Westbrook got the ball in his hands, the Thunder faithful began to chant for him. He responded to the positive vibes from the crowd and turned his game up a notch.

Maybe Westbrook needs encouragement. Maybe he plays poorly when things grow negative around him. I don’t know if it is all mental, which would make sense for a 23 year old, but it is something he needs to get under control before it ruins the Thunder’s season.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and is an avid sports fan that has lived in Oklahoma for over 40 years. He used to religiously follow the Dallas Mavericks until Oklahoma City found a team to call their own.

Source: CBSSports.com

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It was another night, another win for the red hot Oklahoma City Thunder. In their third game of the 2010-11 season, Oklahoma City took on the Memphis Grizzlies, a team that they faced in the 2010-11 playoffs. Just as in the playoffs, the Grizzlies were tenacious, keeping the game close until the final buzzer.

Kendrick Perkins, Oklahoma City Thunder
Wikimedia Commons

Once again, the Oklahoma City Thunder can look to their big center Kendrick Perkins for his late game clutch performance. Perkins, brought into Oklahoma City to defend against the bigger men that always gave the Thunder problems, kept Zach Randolph under control in the paint. As a matter of fact, when Randolph hit a big basket in the final seconds of the game, it was a 3-pointer, safely away from Perkins.

That 3-pointer could have won the game for the Grizzlies if Russell Westbrook had not just hit two important free throws to put the Thunder up by four. The shot brought the game back within one point, 96-95, with 1.8 seconds remaining. Kevin Durant hit the final two free throws to put Oklahoma City up by three with the final score of the game, 98-95.

The Thunder were lucky to win this one. Oklahoma City only hit 37.7-percent of their shots from the field and their usual clutch free throw shooting was a low 78.9-percent. Westbrook, who hit the important free throws that kept the Randolph three from beating them, only scored four points in the entire game, all on free throws. Westbrook finished the game shooting 0-of-13 from the field.

Luckily, Perkins was there to help defend in the paint. Perkins finished with ten points in the game, along with four rebounds, but held Randolph to a 7-of-20 night from the field. The Grizzlies shot as poorly as the Thunder, hitting only 39.1-percent from the field. Randolph hit a double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Marc Gasol also scored a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, although a technical on him at the end helped the Thunder pull ahead. A third double-double for the Grizzlies came from Rudy Gay, with 19 points and 12 rebounds.

James Harden continues to be gold from the bench for Oklahoma City, scoring 20 points with seven rebounds in the game. Durant finished with 32 points, his third consecutive 30-point game of the season.

Next up for Oklahoma City are the defending NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks, who have not won a game yet in the 2010-11 season.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and is an avid sports fan that has lived in Oklahoma for over 40 years. He used to religiously follow the Dallas Mavericks until Oklahoma City found a team to call their own.

Source: NBA.COM

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