By Teddy Greenstein, Chicago Tribune –
CHICAGO — The red headband Richard Hamilton wore Friday night does not need to be washed.
Most expected Hamilton to play against his former team, ending a string of 12 missed games. But he stayed on the bench all night, and the Bulls didn’t need him.
(PHOTO: The Chicago Bulls’ Joakim Noah, right, drives through the lane against Detroit Pistons defender Greg Monroe durng game action at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois Friday March 30, 2012. The Bulls defeated the Pistons, 83-71.)
They grinded out an 83-71 victory over the Pistons that was not exactly high on the entertainment meter.
But it did qualify as the Bulls’ 14th straight triumph over Detroit and allowed them to maintain their 31/2-game edge over the Heat for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
The low score should not have come as a surprise, given that the Bulls have the NBA’s second-best defense (88.9 points per game) and the Pistons had not topped 87 points in their last four games.
“Our defense and rebounding carried us,” Kyle Korver said, “like it usually does.”
Luol Deng (20 points, nine rebounds) and Joakim Noah (19, 12) keyed the victory.
Noah made three key plays down the stretch. After the Pistons cut the Bulls’ lead to 75-71, Noah snared a tough offensive rebound and fed Carlos Boozer for a short jumper, tipped in a Boozer miss and slammed one down off a feed from Korver.
The Bulls prevented the Pistons from scoring in the game’s final 4:48 and held them to 10 points in both the second and fourth quarters.
“That’s hard to do in the NBA,” Boozer said. “There are so many talented players out there. It speaks volumes to what we’re doing on the defensive side.”
The Bulls improved to 14-5 without Derrick Rose, who missed his eighth straight game with a groin injury.
Rose expected Hamilton to play, saying beforehand: “It’s against his old team, so I think he’ll be out there.”
Pistons coach Lawrence Frank had the same feeling, saying: “He dons the jersey when he sees the Pistons.”
Hamilton returned to the lineup in Detroit on Jan. 4 but re-aggravated a groin injury, forcing him to miss the Bulls’ next eight games.
The Bulls are 28-8 without Hamilton, who has a sprained right shoulder. Give Hamilton’s age (34) and array of leg injuries this season, the Bulls are being extra cautious.
“He is real close,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “I just thought another day would be good. I want to see him do more stuff (Saturday) and then we’ll make our decision after that. It was more my call than his. We’ve been patient this long.”
The Bulls would love to have him return Sunday, when they take on the Thunder in Oklahoma City. The Thunder have the best record in the Western Conference and are the top-scoring team in the NBA.
