Too Much Rose: Pistons Lose 96-81 in Chicago
Oct 16, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Detroit Pistons small forward Josh Smith (6) is defended by Chicago Bulls small forward Luol Deng (9) during the second half at the United Center. Chicago won 96-81. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
In what was expected, the Bulls hounded the Pistons all night at the United Center, as the fans welcomed home their superstar Derrick Rose, who missed all of last year with a torn ACL. Rose stole the show early, and didn’t let up till he was pulled to start the fourth quarter. Rose scored 22 points in 22 minutes for the Bulls, shooting 6/9 from the floor, connecting on 9/10 at the free throw line, and added a fast break jam as well.
The Bulls took it to the pistons on the defensive end. Detroit shot under 30% at the end of the first quarter as the Bulls took a 24-16 lead after one. Rose scored 8 points in the first quarter, giving Will Bynum all he could handle.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Jonas Jerebko were the only two productive Pistons all night. KCP dropped a preseason high 18 points on 6/17 shooting. Caldwell-Pope shot 75% from beyond the arc (3/4). He finished with 18 points, 7 boards, and a steal in almost 40 minutes of action.
Jonas Jerebko played 25 minutes for Detroit off the bench, and scored 14 points on 4/6 shooting from the floor, and 5/5 shooting at the free throw line.
The Pistons starting frontline were at the most, mediocre on Wednesday. Andre Drummond finished with 5 points and 10 boards in 27 minutes, only connecting on one of his seven field goal attempts. He was 3/6 from the free throw line on Wednesday.
Josh Smith and Greg Monroe also struggled severely against the Bulls interior defense. Josh Smith finished with just 9 points, and 4 boards in 28 minutes of play, connecting on just 0ne of his three 3-point attempts. Greg Monroe hit double figures for Detroit, dropping 10 points and grabbing 6 boards in 26 minutes.
The Bulls ran away with this one early, as Chicago took a 21 point lead to the locker rom at the half, 55-34. Detroit would shorten the gap in the fourth quarter as the Bulls starters sat. The Pistons outscored Chicago 28-20 in the fourth to lose by a final score of 96-81.
BOX SCORE:
PISTONS
– Josh Smith: 28 MIN; 9 PTS; 4 REBS; 3 ASTS; 1 STL; 1 BLK
– Greg Monroe: 26 MIN; 10 PTS; 6 REBS; 1 STL
– Andre Drummond: 27 MIN; 5 PTS; 10 REBS; 1 BLK
– Kyle Singler: 12 MINS; 6 PTS; 2 REBS
– Will Bynum: 21 MIN; 1 PTS; 5 ASTS
– Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: 39 MIN; 18 PTS; 7 REBS
– Peyton Siva: 26 MIN; 4 PTS; 9 ASTS
– Charlie Villanueva: 12 MIN; 8 PTS; 4 REBS
– Jonas Jerebko: 25 MIN; 14 PTS; 4 REBS
– Tony Mitchell: 17 MIN; 3 PTS; 4 REBS; 1 BLK
– Josh Harrellson: 2 MIN; 3 PTS; 1 REBS
Detroit plays on the tail-end of their back-to-back in Cleveland on Thursday, as the Cavs will be without Andrew Bynum, Dion Waiters, and Tyler Zeller. Sergey Karasev will start alongside Kyrie Irving on Thursday at the Q, as his visa issues have been cleared.