Deng has been almost the forgotten man in offseason discussions; while Bulls fans were salivating over the near-impossibility of LeBron James coming to Chicago or trying to trade him and/or others for Carmelo Anthony, everyone was focused on Rose becoming the superstar that everyone thought he could be, and hopes he will be.
Nevertheless, the Duke product — and they generally do produce fine NBA players — has been a consistent performer through his first six years in the league, averaging about 14 points and six rebounds a game. In breaking his previous high game by two points, he gave notice that the Bulls have at least two offensive forces.
And maybe now, the mainstream media writers — or spellcheckers, we’re not sure who — will stop spelling his first name “Loul”.
Derrick Rose finished with 16 points and 13 assists for the Bulls, who have won two straight after opening the season with a loss at Oklahoma City. Joakim Noah posted his third straight double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in the victory.
LaMarcus Aldridge had a team-high 33 points to go with nine rebounds for Portland, which started the 2010-11 campaign with wins at Phoenix, Los Angeles Clippers and New York. The Trail Blazers will wrap up their five-game road trip on Tuesday at Milwaukee before opening the home portion of their schedule on Thursday against the Thunder. Brandon Roy chipped in with 17 points and Marcus Camby had a game-high 11 boards.
The Bulls pulled off one of their biggest comeback wins ever when they erased a fourth-quarter deficit, outscored the Pistons 34-9 in that quarter on the strength of a 19-2 run, and won by 10.
Tonight, they'll face a Portland Trail Blazers team that is off to its best start in 11 years at 3-0 (they won their first four in 1999-2000). Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge is averaging 9.7 rebounds a game, and the Blazers have yet to allow any of their opponents to score 100 points. Marcus Camby, Brandon Roy, Andre Miller and Nicolas Batum round out the expected starting five for the Blazers tonight.
