Associated Press CHICAGO — The Chicago Bulls understand they’ll be better off once Derrick Rose returns. ADVERTISING No need to rush, though. They keep winning even with their star sidelined. Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng each scored 23 points, and
Associated Press
CHICAGO — The Chicago Bulls understand they’ll be better off once Derrick Rose returns.
No need to rush, though. They keep winning even with their star sidelined.
Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng each scored 23 points, and Chicago escaped with an 89-80 victory over the Boston Celtics on Thursday night after blowing a 16-point lead.
It was hardly an easy night for the Bulls, but they won again even though Rose, the reigning MVP, missed his fourth straight game because of lower back pain.
“I think we’re all confident in our abilities, but we know that we’re not getting to where we want to get to without that guy,” Joakim Noah said.
For now, they’re getting by. It hasn’t been easy the past few games, though.
The Bulls struggled early before going on a big run that gave them a 16-point lead in the opening minutes of the third quarter. Boston came roaring back and was up 61-60 early in the fourth after Chris Wilcox’s alley-oop dunk, but a 12-point run broke a 69-69 tie and sent Chicago to its seventh win in eight games.
Taj Gibson’s layup four minutes into the quarter started the decisive rally. Deng sandwiched a 3-pointer and layup around a free throw by Kyle Korver, and Boozer capped the rally with a pair of layups that made it 81-69, giving Chicago its league-leading 25th win.
Deng had another big game, finishing with 10 assists after dishing out a career-high 11 and scoring 23 in Tuesday’s win over Sacramento.
Boozer hit 11 of 15 shots and grabbed 15 rebounds, and Noah added 15 points and 16 rebounds. The Bulls dominated on the boards 52-37 even though they got outrebounded 15-10 in the first quarter, and they avenged a loss at Boston on Sunday.
“I thought we came out soft in the first quarter,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “They got us back on our heels. We were not taking it up strong and they are very good defensively.”
By the end of the game, the Bulls had a 16-6 edge in offensive rebounds and 12-6 advantage in second-chance points.
“You play defense for 22, 23 seconds and you don’t get the rebound, it zaps the energy,” Boston’s Paul Pierce said.
The Celtics lost for the fourth time in five games even though Kevin Garnett finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds after sitting out the previous night against Detroit with a hip flexor.
Rajon Rondo had 17 points and eight assists, but had his difficulties with Mike James guarding him. Pierce scored 14, and Ray Allen finished with 12 points after a slow start, but the Celtics came up short.
The Bulls appeared to be in good shape leading 51-35 early in the third after Boozer capped a 22-2 run with a dunk, but after blowing nearly all of a 19-point lead against Sacramento on Tuesday, they watched as the Celtics came storming back.
Allen found his stroke, hitting three 3-pointers as Boston pulled within one going into the fourth. And Wilcox’s alley-oop from Rondo in the opening seconds of the fourth gave Boston a short-lived a 61-60 lead.
“Fourth quarters have been our quarters,” Allen said. “We get to the fourth quarter and regardless of what’s happened in the game we pull it out. We execute offensively. We know who we’re going to scoring wise. But right now it’s up in the air.”.
PACERS 93, NETS 88
INDIANAPOLIS — Danny Granger played through a sprained left ankle to score 32 points and helped struggling Indiana snap a season-worst five-game losing streak by beating struggling New Jersey.
Granger missed Wednesday’s loss at Cleveland and the final three quarters of Tuesday’s loss to Miami because of the injury, and without him, the Pacers just weren’t the same. The biggest questions heading into the Nets game were how long Granger could play on his gimpy ankle and how effective he would be. It didn’t take him long to prove he was just fine.
CLIPPERS 74,
TRAIL BLAZERS 71
PORTLAND, Ore. — Blake Griffin had 21 points and 14 rebounds to help the Clippers rally from an 18-point second-half deficit and beat the Trail Blazers.
