No love in L.A.
LOS ANGELES – The numbers are not what Luol Deng monitors to gauge his comeback from the stress fracture in his right leg last season.
Deng pays attention to nuance.
Deng took averages of 17.4 points and 9.3 rebounds into Thursday night’s 108-93 loss to the defending champion Lakers at Staples Center, the second stop on the Bulls’ six-game trip.
With those statistics, not to mention solid individual defensive performances, it’s hard to believe the sixth-year forward was a major question mark as recently as six weeks ago. Deng, however, cares less about the critics and more about heeding his own criteria.
“I’ve had a saying I’m following this season where I’ve really been playing to win,” Deng said. “There are times in the past where I might get down and take a lot of bad shots. But even though I’m playing more aggressively now, I’m just trying to make winning plays and contribute in a lot of different ways.
“Instead of always taking shots, there are times I see a better play and I try to make that play.”
Deng didn’t make as many of them against the Lakers, suffering through one of his poorer efforts this season. He shot 3-for-11 for just six points.
Save for John Salmons’ second straight strong game, Deng’s early shooting woes mirrored those of the Bulls, who trailed 84-67 after three quarters despite hounding Kobe Bryant into 5-for-18 shooting.
Bryant still managed to surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the second-leading scorer in franchise history, trailing only Jerry West.
Rose continued his season-long struggles in the first half, making just 2 of 11 shots. He broke out with 10 third-quarter points and finished with 20. Salmons had 18 and Brad Miller 15, and Joakim Noah added 12 points and 15 rebounds.
Salmons, engaged in a physical duel with Bryant, went scoreless in the third after 18 first-half points. But the Lakers’ size led to a staggering 46 points in the paint after three quarters.
Pau Gasol, making his season debut, had a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds after three quarters and finished with 24 along with 13 rebounds.
As recently as the start of training camp, questions lingered as to whether Deng could withstand the rigors of an NBA season. He entered the game averaging a team-high 38.9 minutes.
“He’s playing a ton of minutes, and I’d like to get those down a little bit,” coach Vinny Del Negro said. “Defensively, he has done a very nice job. He’s taking open shots. He’s cutting hard. I just think he’s happy to be back and to be playing and feeling good physically. We need him to play at a certain level and he has been doing that for us.”
Deng refuses to take glee in silencing any naysayers who said he couldn’t return to productive form.
“I’m not the kind of guy who speaks to defend himself,” Deng said. “I just knew that when I’m healthy I could play this game. I don’t cheat the game. I work as hard as I can. Some people say I could be better or whatever. But I know when I’m healthy, I’m going to play well.”
