Detroit Pistons Status Check:
Record: 12-24
Division: 2-2
Conference: 8-11
Road Record: 3-16
Last game: Won 112-109 vs. Sixers (OT)
Last 10 Games: 4-6
PPG: 95.1 (24th)
Opponents PPG: 100.1 (18th)
Offensive Rating: 104.8 (22nd)
Defensive Rating: 110.4 (25th)
Pace: 89.1 (29th)
Effective Field Goal Percentage: .488 (18th)
Turnover Percentage: .131 (9th)
Defensive Rebound Percentage: .721 (25th)
Offensive Rebound Percentage: .255 (16th)
Free Throws Per Field Goal Attempt: .207 (27th)
Opp. eFG%: .519 (27th)
Opp. TO%: .138 (14th)
Opp. FT/FGA: .230 (15th)
Leading scorer: Rodney Stuckey (15.3 PPG)

Stats from Basketball-Reference.com.

Pistons Injury Report:
Jonas Jerebko: Right Achilles surgery (out 5-6 months)
Terrico White: Right foot surgery (out indefinitely)
Chris Wilcox: Strained left groin (questionable)

Overview:
By the number, the Pistons range from “terrible” to “average” in every category except turnover percentage. So, hey, they take care of the ball, which is nice.

Otherwise, they stink. Especially on the road. They’ve lost nine of their last 10 games outside of Detroit and their three road wins are against the Clippers, Kings and Raptors.

Still, the Pistons might feel hopeful after their 112-109 overtime win over the Sixers on Saturday. Austin Daye forced overtime by drilling a three-pointer with 3.5 seconds left in regulation. Daye — who finished with 15 points — also scored the first five points of OT and Detroit went on to win.

Said Daye: ”(The future) really looks good to me, but hopefully it looks good to (team president Joe Dumars). Joe’s the one who drafted us … and I bet he’s pleased seeing us out there on the floor at the end of games, making plays.”

Dumars would probably feel better if his team wasn’t 12 games under .500.

Joe might also feel better if his team wasn’t playing in Chicago tonight. The Bulls are 16-3 in the United Center and the Pistons — a terrible offensive squad — face the daunting prospect of scoring against a Chicago team that ranks 2nd in Opponents FGP (43.2) and 6th in Opponents PPG (93.9).

The Bulls are even better at the UC, where they’re holding teams to about 91 PPG. And they’re giving up only 82.5 PPG over their last six home games. That includes three games in which their opponents scored fewer than 80 points.

And the Pistons may need help from God if they want to stop Derrick Rose. Forget the fact that he’s averaging 24.2 PPG and 8.1 APG while shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 38 percent from beyond the arc. He’s finally figured out how to draw fouls.

Rose has earned 29 free throws in the last two games. He went 10-for-10 against the Sixers in Philly and notched career-highs in free throw attempts (19) and makes (15) in Saturday’s home win over the Celtics.

Said Rose: ”Usually I just try to take off and avoid the contact or take off, and they block my shot or something. (I’m) just making sure I take my time in the hole and go up to their body first.”

I bet the Pistons are thinking “uh oh” right about now.

After all, according to STATS LLC, Rose has averaged 25.8 points in four career home games versus the Pistons. In those games, Derrick has shot 62.5 percent from the field. And now he may be even more unstoppable than ever?

Like I said: “uh oh.”

Of course, what makes the Pistons so potentially dangerous is that they have a roster full of streaky shooters like Rodney Stuckey, Tayshaun Prince, Rip Hamilton, Ben Gordon, Tracy  McGrady…any one or more of those guys could get hot at any time.

I’m not all that worried about it, but it could happen.

Homecourt sure makes a big difference.

After two straight road losses to sub-.500 teams – due primarily to a couple of truly awful defensive efforts — the Bulls dusted off their defense and put the clamps on the Celtics.

And that defense was extra clampy.

The Celts were coming off a pair of games in which they shot the lights out — 61 percent against the Spurs and nearly 58 percent versus the Raptors — but they were held to 37.8 percent shooting by the Bulls.

Moreover, Boston finished with an Offensive Rating of 91.4 and an Effective Field Goal Percentage of 41.2, quite a bit off their season averages of 108.0 (ranked 10th in the league) and 53.6 (which leads the NBA).

Oh, and the C’s were one point shy of a season-low.

ESPNBoston’s Chris Forsberg said it was simply a bad night for the Celtics, who were playing their fifth game in seven nights, all without Kevin Garnett. And it sounds like Boston coach Doc Rivers kind of agrees.

Said Doc: ”We were pretty awful. Let’s say it was the defense, let’s give them the credit. But we were bad. That was the worst ball movement we’ve had all year. … We had no ball movement. We basically bounced the life out of the game tonight. The bottom line is Ray Allen had zero shots in the fourth quarter, Paul [Pierce] had one and, when that happens, we really should not win the game. That was us.”

Rivers might have a point. A quick stat check tells us the Celtics had a season-low 12 assists.

Okay, so, the Celtics played poorly and didn’t get their best players shot attempts in crunch time. Fine. But that doesn’t explain Chicago’s 48-27 advantage on the boards or how they outscored Boston 11-0 in second chance points. Rebounding is about effort. And effort is how the Bulls won the game. And it sounds like Paul Pierce kind of agrees.

Said Pierce: ”We had a lot of one-pass shooting tonight. There’s really no explanation. That’s really not the way we play. They wanted it more truthfully. They got all the loose balls. They attacked it.”

Speaking of attacking, how about Derrick Rose? He stepped it up in his matchup with fellow hotshot point guard Rajon Rondo, scoring a game-high 36 points while going 10-for-19 from the field, a shooting performance that featured some sweet running one-handers.

But forget the point total and the hot shooting. Derrick’s most impressive feat was getting to the line. Really getting to the line. Finally.

Rose set career-highs in free throws attempted (19) and free throws made (15). He repeatedly drove at and around Boston’s defense and directly into contact. And the whistles came. Again and again they came.

It only took almost two and a half seasons.

ESPNChicago’s Nick Friedell wrote that Rose used film study to figure out the best way to start earning some extra foul shots. I guess that film study paid off.

Said Rose: “I think I’m learning how to get fouled. Where instead of me taking off pretty far, I’m finding the extra dribble and going into their body. Usually I just try to take off and avoid the contact or take off, and they block my shot or something. Just making sure I take my time in the hole and go up to their body first.”

Bulls opponents should be freaking out about now.

Seriously, when Rose came into the league they said he couldn’t shoot the basketball. He’s proven he can. Then they said he couldn’t hit the three or see the floor. Now he’s hitting nearly 40 percent of his threes and averaging better than eight assists per game. Earlier this very season, ESPN’s John Hollinger said Rose wasn’t an elite point guard and wouldn’t be until he learned how to draw contact.

I wonder if Hollinger saw last night’s game? Carlos Boozer — who backed Rose up with yet another double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds — sure got an eyeful.

Said Boozington: “He got the calls tonight. He attacked. He took on the challenge of going against [Rajon] Rondo. He loves challenges like that. For us, it was great to watch. He was aggressive all night long, got to the line, and the refs were giving him the calls. He attacks like that every night. You see him every night just like I see him every night and we saw the same Derrick Rose. It’s just tonight he got the calls and went to the free throw line.”

Drives. Jumpers. Threes. Free throws. Assists. Rose is becoming nearly unstoppable.

Of course, for Derrick to become truly unstoppable, his teammates need to step up their games so opponents can’t stack their defense against him. Yes, I’m looking at you, Keith Bogans.

I’m not kidding. Bogans finished with a game-worst plus-minus score of -14 in 12 minutes. The only other Chicago player with a negative plus-minus score was Kurt Thomas with a -3. Bogans is a complete non-entity on offense and his defense is average on his best days. By contrast, Ronnie Brewer (10 points, 4-for-5, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block) had a game-best plus-minus score of +26.

Memo to Tom Thibodeau: Just give it up and start Brewer already. I honestly cannot think of a worse starter in the NBA than Keith Bogans.

Ah well. Maybe now isn’t the time to nitpick. Maybe I should just let the Bulls enjoy beating the Celtics. It sounds like they’re pretty stoked about it.

Said Rose: “It means a lot. Knowing that we can compete with some of the best teams out there. Especially coming in, getting a win after losing two. Especially against that team. It means a lot to us. Hopefully, it will boost our confidence up and I hope we start playing well.”

Added Brewer: “When you get a win like this, you know [can] compete with some of the best teams in the East. We had some let-ups on the road and it’s unfortunate. But it’s good, it shows that we can bounce back and play together as a team. And I’m just proud of this team that we came back and got a big win.”

Indeed they did.

Extras:
Recap, Box Score, Advanced Box Score, Play-By-Play, Shot Chart, Photos.

Before the game, Bulls broadcaster Stacey King listed his keys for the game.

One was that Chicago needed to control Philly’s guards. Didn’t happen. Jodie Meeks (24 points, 8-for-11, 4-for-7 from downtown) and Jrue Holiday (19 points, 8-for-14, 6 assists) got whatever they wanted, and Lou Williams burned the Bulls for 20 points off the bench.

Another of Stacey’s keys was that the Bulls needed to avoid bad quarters, like when they were outscored 32-18 in the third quarter of their loss in New Jersey on Wednesday night. Didn’t happen. The Sixers also outscored Chicago 32-18 in the third quarter to take an 86-74 lead heading into the fourth. Philly scored those 32 points on 14-for-18 shooting. For those who enjoy simple math, that’s a 78 percent rate of accuracy.

Going back to that whole “control their guards” thing, Meeks and Holiday combined for 18 points on 7-for-7 shooting in the third quarter while the Bull were committing six of their 15 turnovers.

But forget guards and bad quarters. The real problem — just like against the Nets — was defense. As in: Where was it?

The Bulls currently rank second in the league in Defensive Rating, but you wouldn’t know that based on how they played in Philadelphia. The Sixers rank 20th in both PPG (96.6) and Field Goal Percentage (45.2). Last night, they finished with 105 points on 56 percent shooting.

As I mentioned in my preview post, the Sixers entered the game ranked 20th in Offensive Rating (104.9) and 24th in Effective Field Goal Percentage (48.1). Last night, Philly had an O-Rating of 115.8 and an eFG% of 60.6. Those numbers would lead the league.

Breaking it down by shot location (thanks to Hoopdata), the Sixers went 7-for-10 at the rim (70 percent), 9-for-15 inside 10 feet (60 percent), 11-for-14 from 10-15 feet (78.6 percent) and 7-for-16 from 16-23 feet (43 percent). On the season, their shooting averages from these areas are 64.8 percent, 44.5 percent, 36 percent and 36.5 percent, respectively.

Philadelphia was shooting lights out — especially for them — from pretty much everwhere. Against the league’s supposedly second-best D.

As ESPNChicago’s Nick Friedell pointed out, it was a complete defensive breakdown.

Said Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau: “Our catch-and-shoot defense wasn’t very good. Containing dribble penetration. And then challenging shots, you got to challenge shots. Sometimes we’re right there and if we don’t challenge shots they’re going to make [them]. They got in rhythm early on us and when a team gets confidence, it’s much harder to slow them down. They got their confidence going and we had a hard time all night.”

Added Derrick Rose: “We weren’t playing any defense. I think they hit 10 or 11 shots in a row. We couldn’t stop nobody. But we can’t panic. We just lost two in a row. We got a game [Saturday].”

So what’s the problem?

“I really don’t know right now,” Rose said. “I’m confused. We just got to find a way where everybody’s on the same page … We’re not playing like ourselves right now. Where we’re not stopping people, they’re scoring at will right now and we just got to get back to ourselves.”

You probably already know what I think the problem is: No Joakim Noah. Despite being out with injury, Noah ranks fourth in the NBA in Defensive Rating (96.9) and acts as the anchor or Chicago’s defense. Last night, when guys were getting beaten off the dribble, Noah wasn’t there to switch out or intercept them. Additionally, the Bulls’ perimeter players were running into picks and screens all over the place. Noah usually jumps out and smothers plays like that. Without him, the Sixers — particularly their guards — got open shot after open shot.

And those defensive shortcomings wasted what was a pretty good offensive game by the Bulls on the road against a solid defensive team. Chicago shot better than 50 percent from the field and finished an Offensive Rating (109.2) and eFG% (52.7) that were well above their season averages.

The Bulls face the Celtics in Chicago tonight. Boston ranks first in Defensive Rating (99.7) and crushed the Raptors 122-102 last night. If the Bulls don’t get their defensive act together, they might get crushed too.

Extras:
Recap, Box Score, Advanced Box Score, Play-By-Play, Shot Chart, Photos.

Philadelphia 76ers Status Check:
Record: 14-21
Division: 3-4
Conference: 9-14
Home Record: 9-6
Last game: Won 109-97 vs. Wizards
Last 10 Games: 4-6
PPG: 96.3 (21st)
Opponents PPG: 97.0 (10th)
Offensive Rating: 104.9 (20th)
Defensive Rating: 105.6 (13th)
Pace: 91.3 (19th)
Effective Field Goal Percentage: .481 (24th)
Turnover Percentage: .141 (20th)
Defensive Rebound Percentage: .750 (10th)
Offensive Rebound Percentage: .252 (18th)
Free Throws Per Field Goal Attempt: .228 (15th)
Opp. eFG%: .480 (8th)
Opp. TO%: .131 (20th)
Opp. FT/FGA: .260 (27th)
Leading scorer: Elton Brand (14.9 PPG)

Stats from Basketball-Reference.com.

Sixers Injury Report:
Andre Iguodala: Right Achilles Tendinitis (out for at least two weeks)
Tony Battie: Personal Issues (questionable)

Overview:
The Sixers are sub-.500. The Bulls are 12 games over .500. But this game has me worried for two reasons.

The first is because of how the Bulls lost to the Nets the other night. The bad defense, the lack of intensity, and of course Tom Thibodeau’s odd decision to bench Carlos Boozer the entire fourth quarter, which ESPNChicago’s Jon Greenberg believes was Thibs’ way of telling Boozington to play better defense. Then there’s Chicago’s overall hot-and-cold play since Joakim Noah went down with a thumb injury. Not to mention the fact that the Bulls are on the third game of a rough four-in-five-nights stretch. Things just don’t feel right, you know?

The second reason I’m worried is because of how badly the Bulls beat the Sixers in Chicago a couple weeks ago. NBA players have a lot of pride. They don’t like being humiliated. Sixers guard Lou Williams said: “They kicked us pretty good, and I am sure that will be something in the back of our minds when they come in Friday. This is a personal, competitive league. When things like that happen, it’s embarrassing.”

And don’t be deceived by Philly’s record. They’ve been playing much better since their 3-13 start. What’s more, check out their last seven losses: There were two to the Celtics (both close and one was on a last-second alley-oop from Rajon Rondo to Kevin Garnett), two to the Lakers (one close), that blowout loss to the Bulls, and losses to the Warriors and Hornets as part of the Sixers’ recent eight-game road trip. The loss in Golden State was on the second night of back-to-backs after a win in Denver and the loss in New Orleans was on the last game of the trip.

That’s why, sometimes, it’s important to look at how and when a team loses. The context is important.

What’s more, Philly has really been kicking up the D at home, where they allow only 91.9 PPG. This is worrisome because, despite the exploits of Derrick Rose and Boozer, the Bulls are a pretty average offensive team, ranking 17th in Offensive Rating (105.8).

However, Chicago does rank 2nd in Defensive Rating (99.9) and Opponents Effective Field Goal Percentage (.466). The team’s formula during this stretch of Noah-less games has been: Defense + Try To Get 20 PPG from Rose, Boozer and Deng. Unfortunately, that puts a lot of pressure on those three players to produce. Especially since the Bulls aren’t running.

I brought this up the other day, but I felt like breaking it down a little more.

Fast Break Points with Noah
11 @ OKC / LOSS
26 vs DET / WIN
27 vs POR / WIN
25 vs NYK / LOSS
8 @ BOS / LOSS
14 vs DEN / WIN
37 vs GSW / WIN
15 vs WAS / WIN
10 @ HOU / WIN
18 @ SAS / LOSS
0 @ DAL / WIN
9 @ LAL / LOSS
13 @ PHO / WIN
9 @ DEN / LOSS
20 @ SAC / WIN
13 vs ORL / LOSS
5 @ BOS / LOSS
18 vs HOU / WIN
17 vs OKC / WIN
14 @ CLE / WIN
18 vs LAL / WIN
22 vs MIN / WIN
16 vs IND / WIN
23 @ TOR / WIN

In the 24 games Noah played, the Bulls had a total of 388 fast break points for an average of 16.1 PPG. In those games, the Bulls were 16-8. They had single-digit fast break points only five times…and they lost four of those games.

Fast Break Points Without Noah
6 vs LAC / LOSS
28 vs PHI / WIN
7 @ WAS / WIN
3 @ NYK / LOSS
12 @ DET / WIN
8 vs MIL / WIN
9 vs NJN / WIN
8 vs CLE / WIN
5 @ NJN / LOSS

In the nine Noah-less games, the Bulls have a total of 86 fast break points for an average of 9.5 PPG. In those games, the Bulls were 7-3 and had single-digit fast break points seven times…including in all three losses.

As I said, the Bulls are not a terribly efficient scoring team. They really, really need to start sprinting out for some easy buckets.

I guess we should have seen this coming.

Sure, the Bulls had been winning — five in a row and 14 of their last 16 games — but there have been reasons for concern ever since Joakim Noah went down with a thumb injury. There was that loss to the Clippers in Noah’s first game on the shelf. Then there were narrow wins against sub-.500 teams (Washington, Detroit, New Jersey and Cleveland) in which the Bulls played poorly but still managed to eke out the victory.

Yes, it’s nice to win an ugly game here or there, but the Bulls were playing with fire. And when a team continues to give inferior opposition chances, that team is going to get burned.

That’s what happened last night. It’s tempting to shrug off this loss as a case of Sasha Vujacic being at the right place at the right time. But it’s not fair to say the Bulls lost on a fluke play in the final seconds.

No. The Bulls played poorly and deserved to lose. There are numbers to back this up. As I mentioned in my game preview, the Nets are one of the worst offensive teams in the league. They came into the game ranked 27th in Offensive Rating (101.2) and 28th in Effective Field Goal Percentage (46.7). Against the Bulls — who began the night ranked second in Defensive Rating — New Jersey compiled an O-Rating of 108.7 and an eFG% of 52.6.

What’s more, Chicago gave up 50 points in the paint and got outscored 21-5 on the fast break. And I’ve already discussed how important fast break points are to the team’s success.

It also didn’t help that the Bulls missed 10 of their 30 free throw attempts. Worst of all were the two freebies that Luol Deng bricked with 33.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter that could have tied the game. Again, we should have seen this coming. After all, a dirty little secret about the Bulls is that they rank 28th in the league in Free Throw Percentage (70.8). And Deng’s FT% is at a career-low 68.8.

Said Deng: ”I expect myself to make those free throws. I’ve been struggling with my free throw shooting this year. But it’s something, I got to get on it. I can’t be in that position and miss those free throws.”

And while we’re discussing Chicago’s inadequacies against the Nets, we might as well bring up the fact that New Jersey played with more intensity and urgency. Take Kris Humphries. Here’s a guy who averages 8.1 PPG but burned the Bulls for 20 points on 10-for-15 shooting of the Nets bench. He also finished with a game-high 11 rebounds, including five offensive boards. Humpries was 3-for-3 on layups and 3-for-3 on dunks.

Watching Humphries fight and scrap around the rim made me really miss Noah. After all, Joakim is Chicago’s energy guy. The Bulls could have used his spark last night. Not to mention his interior defense, considering the Nets converted nearly 80 percent of their shots around the rim.

Bad defense. No fast break points. Poor free throw shooting. Lack of intensity. That’s a pretty solid formula for a loss to one of the league’s worst teams. And I haven’t even mentioned how Carlos Boozer was benched for the entire fourth quarter. What was up with that?

Said Boozer: ”You got to talk to Thibs about that. That was a coaching decision.”

Replied coach Tom Thibodeau: ”The big thing was we were behind big and they were zoning. And so the group that went in, playing Luol [Deng] at the 4, gave us another perimeter player. So it was more effective for us against the zone. So that’s why we did it. And when that group cut the lead down and now we were in position, they tied the game up so we just were going to finish with the group that was going well.”

Far be it from me to question Thibs. Still…can you imagine the uproar if Vinny Del Negro had benched Boozer in a loss to the Nets? Or played Deng 40 minutes on consecutive nights, especially when the first of those two nights was a blowout in Chicago’s favor.

Oh well. I guess Thibodeau has earned a little benefit of the doubt.

Still, if Thibs doesn’t addess the ongoing problems, and if the Bulls don’t stop playing down to the level of their opponents, all the good vibes that have been building up this season could go south in a hurry.

Extras:
Recap, Box Score, Play-By-Play, Shot Chart, Photos.

New Jersey Nets Status Check:
Record: 9-25
Division: 0-6
Conference: 5-16
Home Record: 6-9
Last game: Lost 103-88 @ Minnesota
Last 10 Games: 3-7
PPG: 92.3 (29th)
Opponents PPG: 98.2 (16th)
Offensive Rating: 101.2 (27th)
Defensive Rating: 107.7 (18th)
Pace: 89.8 (27th)
Effective Field Goal Percentage: .467 (28th)
Turnover Percentage: .141 (20th)
Defensive Rebound Percentage: .750 (9th)
Offensive Rebound Percentage: .248 (22nd)
Free Throws Per Field Goal Attempt: .247 (7th)
Opp. eFG%: .494 (13th)
Opp. TO%: .122 (30th)
Opp. FT/FGA: .245 (20st)
Leading scorer: Brook Lopez (18.9 PPG)

Stats from Basketball-Reference.com.

Nets Injury Report:
Anthony Morrow: Out with a strained right hamstring
Damion Jones: Out due to right foot surgery
Jordan Farmar: Questionable with a bone bruise in right knee
Troy Murphy: Questionable with flue-like symptoms

Overview:
The Nets have the fourth-worst record in the league and the third-worst point differential (-5.9) in the Eastern Conference. They’ve lost 14 of their last 17 games, a stretch that included an eight-game losing streak and their current five-game losing streak. During their current five-game skid, the Nets have been outscored by 75 points.

The Bulls contributed to New Jersey’s recent misery with a poorly-played 90-81 win on New Year’s Eve. It was an ugly game in which Chicago shot 39 percent and got outrebounded. Fortunately for the Bulls, the Nets also shot 39 percent (including 3-for-13 from downtown) and committed 16 turnovers.

Still, Chicago will have to play better tonight than they did on the final day of 2010 if they want to win on the road on the second night of back-to-back games.

The Bulls may be the league’s hottest team not located in Miami, having won five straight and 14 of 6 overall. But now I have to hit  you with an ugly fact: Chicago has lost 18 of their last 20 games in New Jersey.

Plus, for whatever reason, the Nets play the Bulls tough. Last season, during which the Nets won 12 games and took their place among the league’s all-time worst teams…yet they beat the Bulls twice.

Chicago’s bench really came through against the Raptors last night — 52 points, 26 rebounds, 11 assists — which allowed Derrick Rose (29 minutes) and Carlos Boozer (24 minutes) to rest during the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, Luol Deng still logged 40 minutes, so I’m not sure how fresh he’ll be.

The Nets are rested and they’re at home. This makes them dangerous. But the Bulls are 18-1 against sub-.500 teams and have really been taking care of business this season. Hopefully, they’ll be able to do that tonight.

Random: During his career, Derrick Rose has played eight games against the Nets, averaging 18.1 PPG, 7.9 APG and 4.8 RPG. Carlos Boozer has faced the Nets 14 times, averaging 16.7 PPG (on 58 percent shooting) and 9.3 RPG.

As I’ve mentioned before, blowing out bad teams is a key quality of truly good teams. Well, that’s what the Bulls did last night, addressing their recent so-so play in the process.

The Bulls dominated pretty much every meaningful statistical category. They shot 53 percent from the field. They won the rebounding battle 44-33 (including a 13-8 advantage on the offensive glass). They had 20 fast break points. They outscored the Raptors 58-38 in the paint. Chicago’s bench outscored Toronto’s reserves 52-22.

If you check the Basketball-Reference box score, you’ll see that the Bulls swept the Four Factors and finished with an Offensive Rating of 118 and a Defensive Rating of 96.8.

Coach Tom Thibodeau got strong play out of the usual suspects, by which I mean Derrick Rose (19 points, 7-for-11, 6 assists), Carlos Boozer (12 points and 13 rebounds) and Luol Deng (a game-high 24 points). But the bench made the biggest difference.

Chicago’s reserves actually had a triple-double of 52 points, 26 rebounds and 11 assists. Ronnie Brewer had a strong game (12 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals) and Taj Gibson finally broke out of his post-concussion slump (16 points, 8-for-11, a game-high 14 rebounds). Gibson attacked the boards and the rim in addition to playing great defense. And then there was Omer Asik (career-high 13 points, 5-for-6, 7 rebounds, 5 blocked shots).

Asik’s numbers only tell part of the story. He came up huge during the pivotal second quarter, during which the Bulls outscored the Raptors 30-14. Omer took advantage of a mismatch against Leandro Barbosa and hit a layup. He fed Luol Deng for a layup that just beat the shot clock. He grabbed rebounds at both ends. He blocked and intimidated shots. And even when Asik wasn’t making plays around the ball, he was moving, setting picks, getting into excellent position.

Asik is a smart basketball player and he works hard. He played great last night. Almost everybody on the bench did.

Said Boozer: ”Most times, games are close and they don’t get a chance to play like this. But in games like this, you see just how talented they are. You see how talented Taj is, you see how talented O is. The more time you get, the better you become. These guys are stud players.”

The best part is that the Bulls — who play tonight in New Jersey as part of four games in five nights — were able to rest Rose and Boozer during the fourth quarter.

Or maybe the best part is Chicago’s record (23-10). The Bulls have now won five straight and 14 of their last 16 games. They are now 18-1 against sub-.500 teams.

And here’s more good news if you can believe it: According to ESPNChicago’s Nick Friedell, Joakim Noah has started working out with the team. Noah’s cast will come off next week.

Said Noah: ”I’ve been running. I’ve been doing some conditioning and doing some lifting. A lot of core work. A lot of leg strengthening. It’s hard to make everything game-like. There’s nothing like playing in a basketball game. There’s nothing you can do to simulate a basketball game. But I’m doing the best I can, even with a cast on.”

Things just keep getting better.

Extras:
Recap, Box Score, Play-By-Play, Shot Chart, Photos.

Toronto Raptors Status Check:
Record: 11-22
Division: 4-5
Conference: 8-13
Road Record: 4-12
Last game: Lost 93-79 to the Celtics
Last 10 Games: 3-7
PPG: 100.2 (11th)
Opponents PPG: 104.4 (25th)
Offensive Rating: 105.9 (16th)
Defensive Rating: 110.3 (27th)
Pace: 94.6 (6th)
Effective Field Goal Percentage: .492 (16th)
Turnover Percentage: .146 (25th)
Defensive Rebound Percentage: .744 (18th)
Offensive Rebound Percentage: .296 (4th)
Free Throws Per Field Goal Attempt: .225 (17th)
Opp. eFG%: .526 (28th)
Opp. TO%: .142 (10th)
Opp. FT/FGA: .246 (21st)

Stats from Basketball-Reference.com.

Overview:
The Raptors are in a funk, having lost 11 of their last 14 games. And their three wins have come against the Pistons (11-23), Nets (9-25) and the Dirk Nowitzki-less Mavericks.

In all fairness, their most recent losses have come while playing without some of their starters. Leading scorer Andrea Bargnani has missed the last four games with a sore left calf. Jerryd Bayless missed Toronto’s last game due to a sprained left ankle. And Sonny Weems has missed the last seven games with back spasms.

That said, Bargnani and Bayless are expected to play against the Bulls tonight. However, Weems is expected to miss the game and starting point guard Jose Calderon is questionable with a sprained ankle.

There’s no question that the Raptors will be better with Bargnani and Bayless in uniform. But in Bargnani’s case, conditioning may be an issue.

Said Toronto coach Jay Triano: “We have to find a way to get (Bargnani’s) rhythm back and get him in. It may be short spurts. He’s tried to maintain his conditioning through this, but it’s nothing compared with games.”

Now, believe it or not, the Raptors have been on a roll against the Bulls in Chicago. The dinosaurs have won five of their last six games in the United Center, including the last three in a row. According to STATS LLC, Toronto has averaged 107.2 PPG while holding Chicago to 93.2 PPG during that stretch. Over the last three of those games, Derrick Rose has scored 13.7 points and shot 42.9 percent.

Of course, the Raptors haven’t played in Chicago since losing Chris Bosh. Or, for that matter, since Carlos Boozer started suiting up for the Bulls. So perhaps only recent history matters. When the Bulls played in Toronto on December 15th, Rose struggled in the scoring department (6 points on 3-for-9 shooting), but he had 11 assists as Chicago shot 53 percent as a team and won 110-93.

However, Bargnani didn’t play in that game. So there’s that.

The key to this game is that the Raptors are a terrible defensive team, one of the worst in the league. As long as they’re patient and execute their offense, the Bulls should be able to get any shot they want. Chicago’s biggest concern should be protecting the offensive glass, since Toronto is ranked fourth in Offensive Rebound Percentage. And the Bulls are ranked only 14th in Defensive Rebound Percentage (.747), making them roughly average. Particularly in Joakim Noah’s absence.

The Bulls have played eight games since Joakim Noah had thumb surgery.

They are 6-2 during that stretch. So they are winning.

However, they are not running. Not like they were before Noah’s injury.

In their eight Noah-less games, the Bulls have a total of 81 fast break points. That works out to an average of 10.1 per game. And that stat is somewhat padded by the 28 transition points the Bulls scored in that “nobody saw this coming” 45-point win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

More notably, the Bulls had only six fast break points in their home loss to the Clippers. They had three fast break points in their Christmas day loss to the Knicks in New York.

Here’s the eight-game breakdown (from the ESPN.com box scores):

Bulls Fast Break Points without Noah:
6 vs. Clippers
28 vs. Sixers
7 @ Washington
3 @ New York
12 @ Detroit
8 vs. Minnesota
9 vs. Nets
8 vs. Cavaliers

K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune wrote about this before the Nets game, noting that “Noah’s last game before surgery ended a string of seven straight games with double-digit fast-break points, a pace [coach Tom] Thibodeau seeks.”

It’s tough to maintain the team’s previous pace when replacing a sprinter like Noah with the relatively fossilized Kurt Thomas. But that’s what the Bulls have to work with until Noah gets back. Thibs will continue imploring his players to get out in transition. The formula is pretty simple: Defend, rebound, outlet pass, run.

The weakness has been noted. We’ll have to wait and see if it’s fixed.

Two more wins.

A 22-10 record. Third-best in the East.

They weren’t pretty wins. Despite playing at home, the Bulls shot only 39 percent against New Jersey and just 43 percent versus Cleveland. And you could easily (and rightly) argue that both contests were a little too close considering the Nets and Cavaliers have a combined record of 17-50. What’s more, the Cavs were without Anderson Varejao (broken cheekbone), Mo Williams (left hip flexor strain) and Daniel Gibson (left thigh contusion).

But wins are wins. And every win the Bulls notch without Joakim Noah is a bonus. In that regard, the schedule is actually working in the team’s favor.

Anyway, Derrick Rose said he wants to be MVP. Well, he’s backing his words up and then some. Against the Nets, Rose had an off shooting night (5-for-16) but went 7-for-7 at the free throw line and finished with 19 points and co-game-high 9 assists. Then, against the Cavs, Derrick had game-highs in points (28) and assists (11). In the decisive third quarter — during which Chicago outscored Cleveland 32-9 — Rose banged home a couple three-pointers and scored 12 points.

The kid is big time. Absolutely big time.

Carlos Boozer isn’t bad, either. He had double-doubles against both the Nets (20 points and 15 rebounds) and Cavaliers (20 points and 11 boards). Meanwhile, Luol Deng continued producing as the “third guy” on offense, contributing 19 points (with 8 rebounds) versus New Jersey and 23 points against Cleveland.

The Bulls have now won 12 of their last 14 games. You won’t see many of those wins — especially recently — on ESPN Classic, but it sure beats the alternative. After 32 games last season, the Bulls were 14-18.

Said Boozer: ”I don’t care who you are, it’s hard to win in the NBA. We’re proud of ourselves for winning, but we also do want to play much better. We take it for what it is. We want to play a lot better moving forward, but we are winning. We know that for us to continue to win, we have to get better.”

I need to point out again the the Bulls are missing Noah. They aren’t rebounding as well and they aren’t scoring as many points in transition. Which, as I said, makes all these Noah-less wins a bonus.

Here’s the good news: Chicago’s next five games are versus the Raptors (11-21), at New Jersey (9-25), at Philadelphia (13-20), versus the Celtics (24-7) and versus the Pistons (11-22). And Boston is without Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett. This soft stretch of schedule could not have come at a better time.

As an aside, the defense continues to provide the foundation for grinding out victories. The Bulls’ first half defense wasn’t great against the Cavs — Cleveland had 61 points at halftime — but Chicago limited the Cavaliers to 30 points in the second half and only 91 for the game.

The Bulls have now held 11 of their last 13 opponents below 100 points and rank second in Defensive Rating behind coach Thibodeau’s old team the Celtics. Chicago’s D-Rating of 99.9 is barely behind Boston’s 99.3.

That said, Rose knows his squad is going to have to play a more complete game against better teams. Or else…

“We’re going to get whupped. There’s no way [we can play like this]. We can’t come out like that. We just got to hurry up and play our way and continue to play that way.”

Nets Extras:
Recap, Box Score, Play-By-Play, Shot Chart, Photos.

Cavs Extras:
Recap, Box Score, Play-By-Play, Shot Chart, Photos.