More and more, you can see the Chicago Bulls missing Derrick Rose. He's once again out with a groin injury and the Bulls are trailing 49-38 going into halftime against the Boston Celtics on Thursday night. While Chicago's had a solid run of success without its star player, the offense has stagnated of late without its primary playmaker and scorer.
The Bulls rarely looked good on offense in the first half, making just 34 percent of their shots, missing all six of their three-point attempts and turning the ball over eight times. Take away Joakim Noah and Chicago is 9-of-32 from the field so far. The Celtics haven't needed to do much better to top the Bulls thus far.
Noah has played well, scoring 11 points and grabbing six rebounds in the first half. He was 3-of-3 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free throw line, essentially the only Bulls player to consistently make his shots. Paul Pierce had a nice half for Boston, scoring 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting.
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