Chicago, led by Jimmy Butler nowadays, have lost four of their last five.
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Gasol would give the Knicks a talented low post player but wouldn’t improve them defensively, meanwhile the Bulls would lose one of their main offensive options but would add a player to space the floor in Fred Hoiberg’s offense. Just two days after celebrating the Pistons career of Ben Wallace by raising his number 3 to The Palace rafters, the Detroit Pistons will host the division rival Chicago Bulls for a Martin Luther King day matinee.
Detroit shot 68 percent in the first quarter Monday and led 32-26, but the Bulls rallied and led 56-53 at halftime. He burned Andre Drummond on mid-range jumpers throughout the game and the Pistons never felt the need to adjust their coverages.
Brooklyn Nets point guard Donald Sloan is also gaining ground in their recent games since veteran Jarrett Jack went down with a season-ending knee injury. Then with 7.6 seconds left, Caldwell-Pope barked at officials when he was whistled for a reach-in foul until he was T’ed up again.
Look for Detroit to go up 3-0 in the series, while the Bulls try to get their first win over the Motor City. Chicago on a 10-1 run, with Detroit’s only points coming on a Drummond free throw – and he missed rim on the first. Chicago ends up shooting 24 of 44, for 54.5 percent, while the Pistons end up at 54.3 percent. In the 2011-12 season, it wasn’t the halfway point because the schedule was truncated to 66 games after the lockout delayed the start of the season to late December. All of Chicago’s stars came to play in the second quarter as the likes of Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler got it going in the second quarter. Small forward Doug McDermott and power forward Nikola Mirotic combined for 21 points while point guard Aaron Brooks dished out 10 assists, doubling his previous season high.
Pistons 38, Bulls 30 (8:50): Six points from the Detroit bench to start the quarter, on baskets from Aron Baynes, Stanley Johnson and Brandon Jennings, who’s favoring his left ankle some.
Ersan Ilyasova was the main man for the Pistons tonight as he scored 19 points for Detroit.
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Tom West of fansided.com speculates in this National Basketball Association trade rumor that one of the three Chicago’s frontcourt players could be available, “if the price is right” especially with Gasol expected to opt out of his current contract with the Bulls. They’ve got Golden State at home on Wednesday, at Boston on Friday, at Cleveland on Saturday, and back home vs. the Heat on Monday.
