Morning Box Score: Bulls Rout Knicks In Season Opener

By Chuck Sudo in News on Oct 30, 2014 2:15PM

Bulls 104, New York 80
The Bulls started a season of high expectations an promise with an emphatic statement at the world's most famous arena. Sure, it was against the constantly re-tooling Knicks, but a win is a win, especially one as convincing as this. If the Bulls have championship aspirations, their depth will be key (as I noted in our season preview Wednesday) and the revamped "Bench Mob" delivered behind Taj Gibson's 22 points and eight rebounds. Other reserves who had solid contributions included Aaron Brooks with 13 points and rookie Doug McDermott, who scored 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting; McDermott was 2-for-5 from three-point land.

Gibson, Brooks and McDermott each logged over 23 minutes in playing time, indicating coach Tom Thibodeau both trusts them on the court and plans on treating Derrick Rose (13 points, five assists) and Joakim Noah (three points) with kid gloves and an eye on a deep playoff run. Pau Gasol had a solid debut for the Bulls with 21 points, 11 rebounds and some nice defensive play; Gasol's over/under was a +15.

The Bulls entered halftime with a 53-43 lead but put the game out of reach with a 31-17 third quarter. The Bulls shot 50.7 percent from the field in the game and held the Knickerbockers to 36.5 percent shooting. Carmelo Anthony led New York with 14 points while AMar'e Stoudemire added 12 points.