The Chicago Bulls managed to win on Wednesday night, beating the Atlanta Hawks 98-77, once again without the reigning MVP, PG Derrick Rose. And though the win was just 1 of 41 other wins this season, the Bulls felt especially proud of this victory, calling it a great team effort, according to CSN:
F Taj Gibson, who helps lead the Bulls' so-called "Bench Mob," was especially proud of the energy from the bench, which added 37 of the Bulls' 98 point:
"I was trying to bring energy to the game. We looked real slow early... It worked well. We started rolling."
And does the bench's dominance in the paint intimidate other teams?
"Yeah, it's scary. Sometimes I don't even go for the rebound; I just let [C Omer Asik] get 'em all..."
Starter SF Luol Deng, who played nearly 36 minutes in the game, was impressed by the response from the team after the Hawks went on a 10-2 run to open the third quarter:
"The thing we did well was even in the third quarter when they made their run we responded well right away. We didn't hang our head. The second unit was big tonight again... Omer and Taaj were huge in the back. It was just a great team effort tonight."
Even PF Carlos Boozer felt some of the energy Wednesday night:
"We always play hard; I just think we had a certain edge to us tonight that we were lacking the other night when we lost to Denver. It was good to see everybody having fun and enjoying the game and playing the way we like to play."
The Bulls will be back in action on Friday night, taking on the Detroit Pistons at the United Center.
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