March 2012 Archives

* Chicago had won four straight in this series prior to a 99-94 home loss to the Magic on March 8. The Bulls have won three in a row in Orlando.

* The Bulls have the league's best overall (37-10) and road (18-6) records. They are 9-1 in their last 10 road contests, losing only at Boston on February 12 (95-91).

* Orlando is 0-11 this season when scoring less than 85 points, and 0-10 when shooting under 40 percent. The Magic did both in yesterday's loss to Miami (91-81, 39.5 percent).

* Dwight Howard registered his 37^th double-double of the season Sunday, second most in the NBA behind Kevin Love (38). Howard has averaged 28.5 points and 16.5 rebounds in two games versus the Bulls this season.

* Ryan Anderson's streak of 25 consecutive games with a three-pointer made is the longest active one in the NBA. Jason Richardson's streak (19) is third longest, while Jameer Nelson (17) is tied for fourth.

* Derrick Rose will miss his fourth straight game tonight with an injured groin. Backup C.J. Watson scored a team-high 20 points in the Bulls' 89-80 win over the 76ers Saturday, and he has averaged 13.6 points in 11 starts this season.

* The Trail Blazers have won six of the last eight games in this series overall, though the Bulls have taken the last two games played in Chicago.

* Portland lost in New York on Wednesday, 121-79, for its seventh loss in the last nine games, a string of games that has cost Nate McMillan his job; the Trail Blazers have lost the last two contests for a combined total of 59 points.

* The Bulls beat the Heat on Wednesday, 106-102, for their 11^th win in the last 12 games.

* Chicago is 28-6 with 98.4 points per game with Derrick Rose playing; when he has not been able to answer the bell, the Bulls are 8-3 with 98.0 points per game.

* Carlos Boozer has scored 20+ points in eight of his last 12 games against the Trail Blazers, with seven double-doubles; he has averaged 20.2 points and 11.4 boards over that stretch.

* LaMarcus Aldridge, who was originally drafted by the Bulls, has averaged 32.8 points and 9.3 rebounds in his last four games against them, and making 64.2 percent of his shots from the field (52-for-81) and 26 of 28 free throws (.929).

* The Bulls earned a 105-102 win in New York in the only meeting between these teams this season (February 2).

* Chicago has the NBA's best record at 34-9 (.791). That's the fourth-best mark in franchise history through 43 games, behind only the title-winning teams of 1995-96 (40-3), '96-97 (38-5), and '91-92 (37-6).

* New York has lost five in a row after Sunday's 106-94 home loss to the 76ers. The Knicks are 2-7 since Carmelo Anthony's return from injury on February 20.

* Jeremy Lin averages 6.5 turnovers per 48 minutes, the highest rate of any NBA player with at least 400 minutes played. He had six turnovers in yesterday's loss.

* Kyle Korver started for just the fifth time this season Saturday versus Utah, scoring 26 points on 6-of-11 three-point shooting in the Bulls' 111-97 win. It was his most points in over four years (27 on February 6, 2008).

* Chicago is 9-0 this season - and 26-4 over the last two regular seasons - when Derrick Rose registers 10 or more assists, as he did on Saturday (24 points, 13 assists).

* These two teams have recently exchanged little win streaks against one another: the Bulls have won the last two, preceded by two for the Jazz, three for Chicago, four for Utah, and four for the Bulls.

* The Bulls saw their eight-game win streak snapped with a 99-94 loss to Orlando on Thursday. They have had four separate win streaks of at least five games this season.

* Derrick Rose is averaging 23.8 points and 8.0 assists per game since returning from his back injury.

* This will be Carlos Boozer's second game against his old club since leaving Utah for Chicago prior to the start of last season. He had 14 points and six rebounds in the Bulls' win over the Jazz on February 9, 2011.

* The Bulls have won seven consecutive games against the Bucks by an average of 12.5 points per game. During the win streak, Chicago has held Milwaukee to just 40 percent shooting from the field.

* While the Bucks have won back-to-back home games for the first time since February 1, they have shot less than 42 percent from the field in five of their last six home games.

* While the Bulls have gone 8-1 against Central Division opponents this season, no other Central team has won more than three games within the division.

* Over their last four games, the Bulls are shooting 50 percent (33/66) from three-point range. During this stretch, Kyle Korver has gone 7-for-10 from behind the arc, while Luol Deng has gone 11-for-17.

* For the first time in his NBA career, Brandon Jennings has scored at least 27 points in three consecutive games.

* Derrick Rose is averaging 28.0 points and 15.0 assists over his last two road games against the Bucks. Rose has also made all of his free throw attempts in six of his seven career road games against Milwaukee.

* These teams each enter Monday's game riding six-game winning streaks, the longest in the league. The Pacers are 6.0 games behind the Bulls in the Central Division, but sport the fifth-best winning percentage (.657) in the NBA.

* The Pacers' current six-game winning streak is their longest since April 2005. The last time they won seven in a row (single season only) was in March 2004.

* The Bulls boast an average point differential of +9.4 per game this season, the best by any team since the 2007-08 Celtics (+10.3), and the second best by any team since the 1996-97 Bulls (+10.8).

* Danny Granger has scored at least 20 points in consecutive games for the first time since February 1. He's also hit at least 50 percent of his field goals for the first time since last April 6-8.

* Darren Collison is +114 over his last five games, the best mark by any player since February 19. He was at +50 through his first 30 games of the season.

* Joakim Noah grabbed a season-high 18 rebounds on Sunday to lead the Bulls for the 18^th time in 21 games since January 23. Only Dwight Howard (20) has topped his team more often over that span.

* The Bulls have beaten the Cavaliers six consecutive times.

* Chicago won in San Antonio on Wednesday, 96-89, to extend their latest win streak to four games.

* In their 120-103 loss to the Knicks on Wednesday, the Cavaliers were outscored 71-42 in the second half; it was Cleveland's third loss in a row.

* Kyrie Irving has scored 20+ points in four of his six games since missing three contests with a concussion. The rookie has made 31 straight free throws, which is the third-longest active streak in the NBA (Anthony Morrow - 43, Luke Ridnour - 32).

* Since missing five games with a sore back, Derrick Rose has returned to average 25.0 points and 6.5 assists in the last four contests.

* Carlos Boozer, who was originally drafted by Cleveland in 2002, has 10 double-doubles in 12 career games against the Cavaliers, and is averaging 19.0 points and 11.3 boards in those contests.