NBA Recap: Chicago Bulls beat San Antonio Spurs 109-99
Derrick Rose posted a career-high 42 points, collected five rebounds and dished out eight assists to help Chicago Bulls squeak out a 109-99 win over NBA-leading San Antonio Spurs at United Centre on Thursday night.
“That was some performance,” Chicago Coach Tom Thibodeau said. “It was great leadership.”
Rose was at his best when Spurs challenged the Bulls in the final stanza. He answered San Antonio baskets with acrobatic drives and scored 13 points in the fourth stanza. “He has been big all year. He has been able to carry us... when he is playing like
that, we just want to do our part,” Luol Deng said of Rose.
Luol Deng finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists for Chicago, which has improved to 38-16 entering the All-Star break. Carlos Boozer notched 15 points for Bulls, who have won four consecutive overall and 15 of their last 16 games at home.
“We have a lot of confidence right now, knowing we can beat some of the best teams in the NBA,” Rose said. “We just have to keep it going.”
Tony Parker led San Antonio with 26 points while Manu Ginobili and Gary Neal each scored 16 points for Spurs, who had won six of seven games. Tim Duncan, who was named a Western Conference starter for the All-Star game before the play, posted 14 points and
pulled down nine boards in the defeat.
“We were not having our best defensive night,” Ginobili said. “We didn’t move the ball well. We didn’t penetrate and kick the way we usually do.”
Rose led Chicago with 11 points in the opening quarter, and Bulls took a 30-25 lead at the end of one. Bulls guard continued his pace in the second stanza. He notched last six points of the second period, connecting a nice runner, a jumper and a pair of
free throws to put Chicago up 58-51 at the break.
San Antonio cut its deficit to as low as two, 73-71, when Duncan hit a running hook and Parker converted a three-point play with less than five minutes left in the third quarter. But Deng stopped the spurt with a three-pointer and Boozer served three straight
points to give Chicago 79-71 lead. “The third quarter was huge and then D. Rose took the game over,” Boozer said. “All we had to do was get him the ball.”
Chicago ended the third quarter on a 10-4 run to extend its lead to 83-75 entering the fourth stanza.
Bulls grabbed control early in the final quarter. After a Neal three-pointer started the final period scoring, Ronnie Brewer made a dunk to start an 11-2 Bulls run. He finished it off with a jumper to give Bulls a 94-80 lead with eight minutes left.
With less than four minutes remaining, Rose’s long jumper made it 101-90 and took the steam out of a Spurs rally.
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