11-2-05: Charlotte Bobcats @ Chicago Bulls Game Preview

Chris Duhon now has a triple double, Chandler has a double double, Gordon has 14 points, and Pike has 11. Pike!!

 

Woooohooooo! Down by 25 at one point and the Bulls come back to win. I'm lovin' it.

 

What a come back and what a win for the Bulls, and a great way to star the season. Chris Duhon with a triple double, had an absolute huge game for the Bulls. Songaila came up big hitting that trey near the end of regulation to force the overtime, and then the Bulls won it in OT. Great way to start the year, showing that they're capable of shutting down oppontents in the clutch and that they're capable of putting up points when they need to. Great win for the Bulls and hopefully we see more of the same (by that I mean more wins) for the rest of the season.

 

Wow what an exciting game.

Never really knew much about Songalia as I rarely saw Kings game, but he was pretty impressive tonight, clutch freethrows, a clutch 3, and a very nice feed to Tyson in OT to give us a 4 point lead.

Lets hope Kirk isn't hurt to seriously, and is back A.S.A.P.

 

what happened to Kirk?

 

Landed on Sean May's foot after hitting a running layup.

 

I knew the bobcats would choke thats their image. i predicted that charlotte would come out hot and play hard but i didnt think we would be down by 25. Nonetheless another brilliant performance from eric. the bulls hit like 7 clutch shots in a row at one point. HELL YEAH!!!!

GO BULLS!

 

Wow. Another OT special. Have we seen this many overtimes in season openers ever? The level of clutch play all around the league has been stellar. Veterans pitching in, youngsters making the difference. This is shaping up to be one heck of a season.

 

<div align="center"><font size=""7"">Game Recap
</font></div>
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> The Chicago Bulls almost waited too long before they started playing for real.

Chris Duhon recorded his first career triple-double as the Bulls rallied from a 25-point second-half deficit to post a 109-105 overtime victory over the Charlotte Bobcats in the season opener for both teams.

The Bulls' comeback was even more impressive considering it was done without starting guard Kirk Hinrich, who sprained his left ankle with 2:48 left in the third quarter and had to be helped off the court. He did not return and his status is uncertain.

Rookie Sean May's layup 23 seconds into the fourth quarter gave Charlotte a seemingly comfortable 91-68 lead. However, Chicago put together a 10-0 run that put it within striking distance.

The Bulls began bombing away from the arc, hitting five 3-pointers down the stretch to complete the comeback. With the Bulls facing a 98-92 deficit with 35 seconds remaining, Duhon nailed a 3-pointer. After a turnover on the other end, Duhon found Darius Songaila, who drained his first career 3-pointer to tie it, 98-98, with 5.1 seconds to go.

Charlotte had a chance to win it in regulation, but rookie Raymond Felton's desperation 3-pointer bounced off the rim at the buzzer. </div>

<div align="center">Recap l Box Score</div>

Wow where do I start with this game as you see from previous posts in this thread this game at one point seemed out of reach. The Bulls though stayed true to there name and came stampeding back. They out scoring the Bobcats 30-9 in the final quarter of play, and won the second half by a total of 24 points.

A week after suffering a sever fall in a preseason game, in which he left the game on a stretcher, Duhon had the game of his career he helped set the tempo for the Bulls all game. Even when they where losing by over twenty points in the second quarter Duhon was the one leading the team in scoring, rebounds, and assists. He honestly showed everyone this game how he earned that starting spot finishing the game with a total of 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists. He not only obtained the first triple double of his young career tonight he also achieved the first triple double of the 2005-2006 season.

The Bulls finished this game with seven people in double figures, this after not having one person in double figures at half time. The finished with 18 turnovers however only had four turnovers the entire second half. The Bulls also out scored the Bobcats 30-8 in the fourth quarter, and forced them into 13 second half turnovers. Tyson Chandler was one of the main reasons for this comeback outside of Chris Duhon. After struggling in the first half he came on in the second half and finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

To manage this comeback despite losing Hinrich to a sprained ankle in the third quarter really has to give the team confidence. Hopefully it is not a injury that keeps Hinrich out more than a week we need him to be successful.

Now that I have made it clear of how proud I am of this win I have to point out the negatives of the game. The Bulls got off to another slow start something that has continuously hindered them ever since the start of the preseason this year. When they start playing playoff contending teams such as the Pacers, Pistons, Bucks, etc. They can?t afford to be playing from behind all night. They will not win those games.

Another thing that occurred to me is that it seems like Skiles is experimenting with his lineups gain this season starting Andres, and surprisingly Songaila over Sweetney. It is not that big a deal, but I was taken a back by it. Andres all though he started played less minutes then Deng and Tim Thomas. I think Skiles is trying to start his best defenders in the starting lineup to ware down the starters on the opposing team, and then send out his scorers to pick apart the backups from the opponents. Isn?t it great what depth does for you?

Pargo, nor Basden played this game two very good players I am not sure if it was coaches decision or due to injury. I know Pargo did not dress not sure about Basden. Greatest play of the game was Chandlers and one at the end of the fourth quarter he just powered that ball into the hoop. I still don?t know how he got that shot up.

 

UN-FREAKIN-BELIEVABLE! 20+ point lead in the 4th quarter, and they still lose. This is similiar to what happened last season, when Charlotte had leads, you always had a feeling the other team was going to come back and win. The Bobcats simply don't have a player to go to in the clutch, and that's something Bickerstaff needs to add to this squad in Free Agency.

 

can't be more happier, down 20 points. Duhon got his first triple double, Chandler played good, and songalia and piatowski were the clutch guys

go bulls!

 

Sweet ass game. Who would have though Duhon would be the first to get a Triple Double this season.