Undermanned Bulls Stomp Nuggets 135-121

Chicago Bulls guard Ben Gordon scored 37 points on 12-18 shooting from the field to help the undermanned Bulls drop the Denver Nuggets 135-121 at the United Center in Chicago. The Bulls scored a season high 135 points on a scorching 57.1% from the field, even without the services of newly acquired Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden, whom the team received from Cleveland in a complex 3-team 11-player trade on Thursday, because not all players have completed their team physicals yet.

As part of the trade with Cleveland, the Bulls unloaded starting big men Ben Wallace and Joe Smith, partially to clear up more playing time for youngsters Tyrus Thomas (18 pts, 11 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 3 blk in 34 minutes), Joakim Noah (14 pts, 10 reb, 2 blk in 38 minutes), and Aaron Gray (4 pts, 5 reb in 12 minutes), who all responded well on Friday night to increased playing time. Chicago moves to 22-32 on the year, 1.5 games behind the Philadelphia 76ers for the 8th and final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

Allen Iverson scored 27 points and doled out 9 assists for the visiting Nuggets, but they were outrebounded 44-37 by the Bulls, and showed absolutely no interest defensively, giving up easy layups, dunks, and jumpers from all over the court. Denver slid to 33-21 on the season, holding on to the 8th seed in the West by a 1/2 game over the Golden State Warriors. If the Nuggets want to make the playoffs, or even potentially win a playoff game this year, they are going to have to display more zeal and passion on the defensive end, or they can forget making any noise this season in an increasingly competitive Western Conference.