With 30 points and 11 rebounds, Luol Deng enjoyed the night of his young career Tuesday night in Dallas.
His reward? Guarding Tracy McGrady Wednesday night in Houston.
The NBA schedule doesn’t stop, and Game No. 47 is on tap Sunday in Minneapolis.
That’s far more action than a college season and the inconsistencies are starting to show for Deng, Ben Gordon, Andres Nocioni, Chris Duhon and Kirk Hinrich, who, lest we forget, is just a second-year player.
One game, there is dominance. The next, that disappears.
Deng played just 20 minutes against Houston in a nondescript, foul-marred performance. In a departure for the defiant rookie, he admitted to fatigue afterward.
“We’d love to deny it, but it’s true,” Deng said. “Our energy wins games for us and it just wasn’t there.”
By now, it’s clear the Bulls have to play harder and have more energy than their opponents to have a chance to win. After two off days in Miami–one a complete off day, one with a short practice–the Bulls shocked Dallas.
Against Houston, the Bulls shot 36.8 percent, allowed 105 points on 50 percent shooting and looked slightly out of sync all night.
Saturday marks the Bulls’ fifth straight road game in a stretch of 13 out of 18 away from the United Center. There are more home games in March, but there are also five sets of back-to-back games.
“We have a lot of guys who haven’t been through this,” coach Scott Skiles said. “There aren’t words to describe this. You have to go through it.”
One thing the Bulls have managed to avoid for the most part is having all rookies struggle in the same game. That’s a good thing for a team that has four first-year players prominently in its rotation.
Only Duhon made an impact against Houston. Skiles gave the Bulls Thursday off, their second day away from the practice court in five.
“We’re trying to balance rest and practice and not be too hard on them,” Skiles said. “At the same time, we have to practice to get better.”
Deng, Duhon, Gordon and Nocioni rank fourth, fifth, ninth and 10th, respectively, among rookies in minutes per game. None are averaging more than 30 minutes as Skiles attempts to keep them energetic for a possible playoff push.
One bright spot from the loss was the energetic play of Tyson Chandler, who finished with 20 rebounds and three blocks.
“You’re always looking for guys who can be difference-makers without the ball,” Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy said. “He’s a difference-maker without the ball. Rebounding, shot blocking, quickness, running; he can do them all. Those guys are hard to find.”
Chandler had 15 rebounds against Dallas, an encouraging sign that he strung together back-to-back strong games.
