The Bernstein Brief: Bulls, Former Bulls Have A Night
By Dan Bernstein --
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(670 The Score) Every busy night on the NBA schedule now seems to come with more than its usual share of highlights, news and notes, seemingly the product of a league bubbling over in popularity and sporting dynamic young players on every floor, all the time.
The constant barrage of action is driving viewership to off-the-charts levels, as is an increasing fear of missing out on the next hot story. We're lucky that FOMO phenomenon can be mitigated for some of us by the packages edited together by the NBA and pushed out via social media and their app, as it's always well worth a morning's look.
Wednesday night saw the Bulls come out ahead 92-87 against the Knicks, a game with the aesthetics often expected in the second a team plays in as many nights. Kris Dunn continued his rise to developing stardom with a team-high 17 points as well as five assists, five rebounds and two steals, while Lauri Markkanen's dogged and disciplined defensive effort on Kristaps Porzingis held him to 9-of-22 shooting that included just 1-of-6 on 3-pointers.
Meanwhile, the primary asset traded for those two was going off in Minneapolis, with Jimmy Butler scoring 39 in the Timberwolves' 128-125 overtime win over the Nuggets. He had the first 11 points in the extra period and then the assist on Jamal Crawford's game-winner. Taj Gibson also scored 20.
And Rajon Rondo had 25 assists as the Pelicans beat the Nets, 128-113. It was the first time a player had reached that number in a game since Jason Kidd in 1996, and it broke Chris Paul's franchise record of 22. Worth noting here, too, that the NBA record still belongs to former Bulls coach Scott Skiles, who had 30 in a game in 1990.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Bernstein and Goff Show" in afternoon drive. You can follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.
