Bulls Throttle Pistons; Break Out of their Slump

Following a recent stretch in which the Bulls just couldn't buy a basket for top-dollar value if they had tried, they not only ended their offensive woes, but they broke out in a huge way that not even I could believe.

Jimmy Butler scored 19 points, Rajon Rondo was two rebounds away from a triple-double on the night with 10 points, 14 assists and eight rebounds, and the Bulls throttled the Detroit Pistons 113-82 on Monday night inside the United Center in Chicago to snap their three-game losing streak and get back above the .500 mark on the season.

Just days after scoring a season-low 69 points in their 26-point loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night, the good guys got off to a blazing hot start from the floor in this one. They hit 17 of their 21 shot attempts in the first 12 minutes, 15 of which were assisted while Jimmy Buckets had six, and held a 35-19 advantage heading in to the second quarter. That wasn't the end though as it continued throughout the entire first half as well.

At the half, the Bulls were shooting 72 percent from the field, hitting four of their six shots from behind the arc, and led by a score of 69-34. Entering this contest, the team was ranked as one of the worst shooting teams in the league (sixth-worst to be exact) with an overall shooting percentage of .435 through the first 26 games. It was an exciting sight to see after having loss to these same Pistons in their most recent game back on December 6th when they led after three quarters before being struggling in the fourth and losing by double digits.

The Bulls defense showed up big time as well in this contest. They held Detroit to just 13 percent from long range (3 of 23 shooting), while also holding them to 41 percent from the field. The Pistons were pounded on the glass early and never really recovered in that aspect in the early going when the game was close, as they were out-rebounded 46-32 and saw Andre Drummond, who was averaging 13.4 boards per game coming in, held to just four on the night in 23 minutes. In their last meeting, the 6'11 big man pulled down 10.

Taj Gibson and scored 16 points on 8 of 8 shooting, Robin Lopez added in 14 points and six rebounds of his own, while Niko and Dougie McBuckets combined for 26 points off the bench. This was a huge momentum boost for a team that was slumping all around, especially considering they have a tough slate ahead of them for the rest of the week with match-ups' with Washington (Wednesday) at home and then Charlotte (Friday) and San Antonio (Sunday, Christmas day) on the road. Hopefully this is just the start of a hot-streak for a Bulls teeam that could certainly use it to make up some of that ground they've lost just recently.