The Bulls outrebounded the Hornets 51-34 last night as they looked like they wanted the game more and they got it. Tyrus Thomas led the way for the Bulls in his first game back from injury with 21 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocked shots in 32 minutes off the bench. Joakim Noah was also incredible last night with 17 points, 18 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 blocked shots. Kirk Hinrich pitched in with 14 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists in his first start of the year for the Bulls last night. The Bulls are now 11-17 on the year.

The Bulls have decided to bench John Salmons replacing him in the starting line-up with Kirk Hinrich. Salmons is proving that last season was a fluke. He has played in 27 games (all starts) this season for the Bulls and he is averaging 36.7 minutes, 13.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Salmons is only shooting 38% from the floor but that is better than Hinrich’s 36.2%. Hinrich has played in 21 games (0 starts) for the Bulls this season and he is averaging 29.3 minutes, 8.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. The one area this could help the Bulls out offensively is because Hinrich is a much better passer than Salmons which will likely help get more players involved in the offense.

The Bulls were outscored 53-31 in the first half before putting up a fight that fell a little short last night. Derrick Rose led the way for the Bulls last night with 26 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Luol Deng also had a good game with 23 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists last night. Joakim Noah only shot 4 of 13 from the floor but he still finished up with 10 points, 21 rebounds and 1 assist. The Bulls are now 10-17 on the season.

Luol Deng is back to his old self this season and that is excellent news for the Bulls. He has played in 26 games (all starts) for the Bulls this season and he is averaging 38.8 minutes, 18.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game. The Bulls really need Deng to stay healthy as he and Derrick Rose are the main men offensively and they are the only consistent threats on offense for them night in and night out.

Kirk Hinrich is better than he has shown so far this year and the Bulls need him to pick it up. He has played in 20 games (0 starts) for the Bulls this season and he is averaging 29.3 minutes, 8.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. Hinrich is shooting bricks from everywhere on the basketball court which isn’t like him. He is only hitting 36.5% from the floor, 31.6% from three point range and 69.7% from the free throw line. It’s too bad that Hinrich is playing this bad or he might have bumped John Salmons from the starting line-up as he has also been brutal for the Bulls this year.

The Chicago Bulls (10-16) had a historically bad night against the Sacramento Kings (13-14), blowing a 35-point lead.  It was the biggest blown lead in over 13 years.  With 8:50 left in the third quarter, the Bulls were up 79-44 and it looked like they were cruising to a blowout win.  All of a sudden the Bulls went cold and started turning the ball over like crazy.  With zero turnovers in the first half, the Bulls were the complete opposite in the second half with 18 turnovers.  Kings’ rookie Tyreke Evans killed the Bulls, especially in the 4th quarter.  He finished with 23 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.  Luol Deng led the Bulls with 26 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block.  Derrick Rose had a great first half, and finished the game with 24 points, 3 rebounds, and 7 assists.  Like most other Bulls, D. Rose could not get it going in the 4th quarter and the Bulls were outscored 33-10 in the final quarter.  This was an absolute embarrassment by the Bulls, who were deservedly booed off the court by the United Center crowd.

The Bulls just seemed to want the game last night more than the Hawks did. Derrick Rose had probably his best game of the year for the Bulls last night with 32 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists. Luol Deng also had a great game finishing with 21 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocked shots. John Salmons pitched in with 16 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals despite only shooting 5 of 13 from the floor. The Bulls are now 10-15 on the year.

The Bulls outrebounded the Knicks 49-37 but it wasn’t until the 4th quarter when the Bulls outscored them 29-17 that sealed the win. Luol Deng led the way for the Bulls last night with 24 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists. John Salmons had one of his best games of the year last night with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Derrick Rose pitched in with 18 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists. The Bulls are now 9-15 on the year.

The Chicago Bulls (8-15) played pretty well tonight, but they ran into Kobe Bryant on one of his hot shooting nights and fell to the Los Angeles Lakers (19-4) because of it.  Bryant had 20 points after the first quarter and the Bulls looked like they might be in trouble.  Bryant finished with 42 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 assists and despite the huge scoring night, Kirk Hinrich played pretty good defense on the Black Mamba.  Bryant was just on fire and was hitting tough shots all night, but Hinrich helped force 8 turnovers on the superstar.  Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, and Brad Miller got things going for the offense.  Rose had 21 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists and Deng added 21 points and 6 rebounds.  Brad Miller filled up the stat sheet with 15 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.  The Bulls outrebounded the Lakers 51-37, thanks to Joakim Noah’s 20 rebounds.  The Bulls shot only 39% from the field though and were terrible from three point land, going 2-11 (18%).  The offense could not get anything going when it was needed most, scoring only 14 points in the 4th quarter after leading by one going into the 4th.

The Bulls only shot 32.6% from the floor last night as the Celtics destroyed them at home last night. Derrick Rose led the way for the Bulls last night with 19 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Luol Deng pitched in with 17 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist last night. Taj Gibson had a great game off the bench for the Bulls last night with 12 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots last night. The Bulls are now 8-14 on the year.