Derrick Rose made his return to the Bulls Monday against the Pistons. Photo/Wikimedia
[dropcap]D[/dropcap]errick Rose returned to the starting lineup for the Bulls as they prepared to face the Pistons. This night marked the first time all season that the Bulls projected starting lineup has been intact. Jimmy Butler and Rose played their first game together in over a year in the regular season.
The Bulls took the early advantage in the first quarter with a very balanced attack. Rose looked to be healthy as he darted his way through defenders and set his teammates up with nifty passes. Pau Gasol was very active on the glass as he and Joakim Noah teamed up to keep Detroit at an early disadvantage in rebounds, holding the Pistons to 22, with 29 of their own. The Bulls concluded the first period with a 27-21 advantage on the scoreboard.
The second quarter belonged to the Bulls, as they began to pull away. The Pistons went on a 6 minute scoring drought, going 0 for 9 from the field in that stretch. Gasol had a couple key blocks to thwart the Detroit offense. He concluded the game with a total of four blocks on the night. A bright spot for the Pistons was former Bull guard DJ Augustin, who did most of his scoring in the second quarter en route to 16 points in 21 minutes. The Bulls stretched the lead to as much as 19 in the 2nd period to lead comfortably 60-44 at the half. Rose scored 13 points with 5 assists, while Joakim Noah was on track for a triple double as he recorded 8 points, 4 assists, and 6 rebounds by halftime in 15 minutes of action.
The Pistons used a 26-18 third quarter to cut the Bulls lead to a more respectable amount. Greg Monroe was the spark plug of the quarter, as he kept the Pistons close. Monroe concluded his night with 16 points and 10 rebounds in 35 minutes. The Bulls lead was cut to 78-70 to begin the final period, after enjoying a 19 point lead earlier in the half.
The crowd began to cheer on the Bulls after the trend of late has been for the Bulls to take a commanding lead, only to allow their opponent to make a comeback. As the crowd anticipated, the Pistons were able to get as close 88-90 before the Bulls scored 12 of the final 15 points of the game. The Bulls defeated the Pistons 102-91. Derrick Rose enjoyed his best game as a Bull since Doug McDermott was a sophomore in college. Rose played a season high 32 minutes and recorded 24 points and 7 assists. The 24 point output was his highest point total since April 15th 2012 against these same Pistons when he also scored 24 in 40 minutes of action. Rose was in good company tonight, as Pau Gasol recorded another double-double with 17 points and 15 rebounds. Noah flirted with a triple-double all night before settling for his best output of the season with 13 points, 14 rebounds, and six assists. Butler scored in 19 points and a game high 42 minutes worth of action.
The Bulls head to Toronto to face the Eastern Conference leading Raptors. The Raptors have an NBA best 6-1 record. The Bulls look to keep pace as they currently sit a half a game behind the Raptors at 6-2.
