Rose, Gibson lead Bulls past Mavericks
Ever since he set foot in the Berto Center, Bulls forward Taj Gibson has acted more like a seasoned veteran than a young player chosen with the 26th pick of the 2009 draft.
So how else would Gibson react to an ugly shooting slump? After missing 15 of 16 shots in the first two games of the circus road trip, Gibson produced 17 points and a career-high 18 rebounds to help lead the Bulls to an impressive 88-83 win at Dallas on Friday night.
“Coach knows I've been working on my jumper, but he said don't rely on jump shots,” Gibson said. “Attack the glass and hit the boards. I've struggled the last two games so he challenged me.”
Gibson also knocked down the biggest, most improbable shot of the night. With the Bulls (7-4) trailing by 1, C.J. Watson drove to the basket and had his shot blocked. It flew into the hands of Gibson, who was standing at least 4 feet behind the 3-point line.
The shot clock was about to expire, so Gibson let fly the first 3-point attempt of his professional career.
And with Dirk Nowitzki's hand in his face, he and nailed it. The shot gave the Bulls a 79-77 edge with 2:50 left. After Dallas (7-4) tied it up with a pair of free throws, Gibson grabbed a clutch offensive rebound, which set up Kyle Korver's corner jumper that gave the Bulls the lead for good at 81-79 with 1:55 left.
Following a defensive stop, Gibson made yet another key play, saving the ball inbounds after Derrick Rose had it stripped on a drive to the basket.
Rose ended up getting fouled with a second on the shot clock and his free throws sent the Bulls ahead 83-79 with a minute remaining.
Dallas' Caron Butler made 1 of 2 free throws with 53 seconds left. Trying to run some clock, Watson missed a 3-pointer and this time Luol Deng kept the offensive rebound alive. Watson eventually sank 2 free throws to make it 85-80 with 15.3 seconds on the clock and that was essentially the game.
The Bulls absolutely dominated the glass, outrebounding the Mavericks 59-34, including 20-9 on the offensive end. Joakim Noah grabbed 17 rebounds, to go with 10 points.
Rose led the Bulls with 22 points and got some nice help from the bench as Korver scored 14 points and Watson 13.
Before the game, Dallas coach Rick Carlisle tossed Rose's name into the MVP race.
“He's a great player,” Carlisle said. “Right now, he's one of the best players in the game. His team has a winning record in large part because of him. He's one of the more difficult players on the planet to guard. He's an MVP candidate. That's how good he is and how important he is to his team.”
Nowitzki dominated Dallas' scoring with 36 points, but his last field goal came with 10:18 remaining.
The early part of this game was almost a replica of Wednesday's loss to San Antonio. The Bulls led most of the first half, holding Dallas to a season-low 35 points before intermission.
Just like against the Spurs, the Bulls fell apart at the start of the third quarter, with Dallas going on a 20-4 run. Unlike Wednesday, the Bulls stopped the run and battled back within 3 points by the end of the third quarter. They trailed by 7 early in the fourth before a 3-pointer by Watson put them ahead 71-69 with 6:13 remaining.
In an odd scheduling quirk, the Bulls now have three days off before facing the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. That starts a run of four games in five nights across Thanksgiving weekend to finish the circus road trip.
Mike McGraw's game tracker
<p><B>Taj is terrific:</B> His shooting slump the past two games must have been a mirage. Bulls forward Taj Gibson grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds, scored 17 points and nailed the first 3-pointer of his pro career to put the Bulls up 79-77 with 2:50 remaining.
<p><B>Glass cleaners</B>: The Bulls piled up an impressive 59-34 rebounding advantage as Joakim Noah chipped in with 17. Derrick Rose scored 22 points to offset Dirk Nowitzki's 36 points for the Mavs.
<p><B>Get some rest:</B> In an odd twist of the schedule, the Bulls will now spend three days off in Los Angeles before playing the Lakers on Tuesday.