The Official Site of Derrick Rose

Wed, Feb 17th 2010, 10:05

Behind Rose, Bulls run wild against Knicks

Putting a quick end to weekend concerns over his physical condition, Rose made 14 of 18 shots and scored 29 points in 27 minutes Tuesday, leading the Bulls to a wire-to-wire 118-85 victory over the visiting New York Knicks. The two teams meet again Wednesday in New York.

The victory lifted the Bulls back to .500 at 26-26 at the start of a two-week period in which the Bulls could really make a positive move in the Eastern Conference standings. Over the next 11 days, the Bulls play seven games, six of them against teams with losing records.

Luol Deng made eight of 12 shots for 18 points and the Bulls shot 60.5 percent for the game (52-for-86). The Knicks were led by their own All-Star, David Lee, who scored 24 points and pulled down 12 rebounds.

The Bulls played again without starting center Joakim Noah, who is being rested with plantar fasciitis in his left foot. He has missed five straight games.

Less than one week after falling hard on his hip as a result of a collision with Orlando’s Dwight Howard on Wednesday and just two days after his first All-Star Game appearance, Rose made a showy return to the regular season by hitting his first seven shots against the Knicks. The Bulls fed off of Rose’s performance, running out quickly to an 18-7 lead before letting the Knicks back into the game.

“We let him get easy opportunities early so he got to see the ball go in,’‘ New York guard Chris Duhon said. “He got a nice little rhythm, that’s a reason he’s an All-Star.”

Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro gave Rose an extensive break between the end of the first quarter and the start of the second quarter, but his shooting remained hot and he finished the first half 10-for-12 from the floor for 21 points.

“I’m sore a little bit, but I just had to play through it,’‘ Rose said. “I bothered it on a layup early in the game but it’s really nothing I’m concerned about. It’s a bruise that will go away and it should start feeling better tomorrow.”

“He’s actually a little bit sore but you couldn’t tell the way he was shooting in the first quarter,’‘ Del Negro said. “It was good to get him some rest in the second half. We will see how he feels tomorrow and see what we can get out of him (at New York Wednesday).”

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