Last season, the Bulls somehow turned around a 49-33 record from 2006-07 into the exact opposite at 33-49.
Suffice it to say the turnaround the Bulls pulled off Thursday night at the United Center seemed much more palatable.
Trailing by 19 in the first quarter, the Bulls stormed back for a convincing 98-91 victory over a reeling Mavericks team before a packed house of 21,751.
Ben Gordon led the way with a season-high 35 points. Luol Deng added 20. Derrick Rose contributed 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
“I just tried to be aggressive,” Gordon said. “Any seam I saw, I tried to attack it.
“I just got tired of it, so I decided to come down and shoot. It worked out.”
How fired up were the Bulls over this stirring comeback?
Rose, typically so reserved and undemonstrative, actually pumped both arms into the air to exhort the crowd as he retreated to the bench during a fourth-quarter timeout.
“We’re going to have ups and downs,” coach Vinny Del Negro said beforehand. “But as long as we keep playing with effort, like we have, we should be OK.”
The Bulls were more than OK in sharing and protecting the basketball, committing a season-low seven turnovers to go with 13 assists.
The outcome seemed improbable given the way the Bulls started.
Even with Drew Gooden returning from a two-game absence with a sprained right ankle to start alongside Deng and Joakim Noah up front, the Bulls missed 11 of their first 12 shots and fell behind 24-5. Dallas drained eight of its first nine shots.
But Gordon scored 12 first-quarter points and started aggressively attacking to spark a 13-0 run and start the Bulls’ comeback. Aggressive defense by Tyrus Thomas on Dirk Nowitzki helped as well.
By halftime, with Gordon scoring 19 and Deng adding 16, the Bulls actually had grabbed a 51-50 lead.
They increased that to 78-70 after three quarters, with Rose erupting for 14 third-quarter points on 6-of-7 shooting and four assists.
The Bulls led by as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter.
The game marked Larry Hughes’ season debut. Hughes dislocated his right shoulder on Oct. 22 during an exhibition game in Minnesota. Originally, Hughes thought he would miss six to eight weeks, but he returned in just more than three.
“I’m not worried about contact,” Hughes said. “I’ve made myself as strong as I can be. I just need to find a rhythm and help the team any way I can.”
Hughes finished with five points in 13 minutes.
With Hughes’ return, the Bulls finally had their first crowded backcourt situation of the season with five guards active. Thabo Sefolosha, fresh off a strong game defensively, was the odd man out, not getting off the bench.
Neither did Lindsey Hunter, signed earlier in the day Thursday. Del Negro doesn’t envision the situation to be a problem.
“Guys who are playing well and hard and understanding what we’re doing out there will get more minutes,” Del Negro said. “That’s just the way it works. You’d rather have too many than not enough. We’ve been short-handed lately. Matchups will play a part too.”
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kcjohnson@tribune.com
