Rose, Bulls dunk Pistons 95-82
Whether Bulls fans see it as a running joke, guilty pleasure or labor of love, television announcer Stacey King definitely gets fired up when describing Derrick Rose's most spectacular dunks.
Well, Rose had a good one early in the fourth quarter of Monday's 95-82 victory over the Detroit Pistons at the United Center.
After a steal, Ronnie Brewer tossed an alley-oop pass well above the rim. It looked as though the pass was higher than Rose expected and he somehow managed to gain elevation in mid-jump and slam it home with one hand.
It was the type of surge most humans can perform in a swimming pool, but not on a basketball court.
On television, King usually starts by screaming, “I want to go higher!” On Monday, he finished with, “That's an elevator all the way to the top floor.”
Rose, though, claims he's never heard any of it and would not seek out “SportsCenter” to catch a glimpse of his handiwork when he gets home.
“My mom tells me about it,” Rose said with a laugh. “I see signs that say stuff on there about Stacey King, but I don't know what they mean.
“(I won't watch it) until somebody puts it up in here or at the practice facility. I just don't want to get caught up in that.”
After some prodding, Rose did admit he considers last season's two-handed power slam over Goran Dragic in Phoenix to be his best dunk.
On the other side of the locker room, Brewer was looking forward to watching the highlight.
“I could tell by the crowd's reaction that it was a good play,” Brewer said. “I didn't really get to see him finish because I was trying to avoid the defender.
“If you watch D-Rose, when you think he's going fast, he has a different gear to go faster. When he's jumping high, he has another level to go a little higher. I wasn't worried about turning the ball over.”
Rose had plenty of great plays as the Bulls (25-12) rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit to beat the Pistons for the 10th straight time. Rose finished with 29 points and 7 assists. Carlos Boozer added 27 points and 11 rebounds, while Luol Deng scored 17.
Boozer was still buzzing about Rose's dunk well after the game concluded.
“We got hyped on the bench,” he said. “It was a decent pass by Ronnie Brewer, then D-Rose went and made it spectacular. It was awesome.”
The victory itself was due to the Bulls defensive reinvention in the second half. Detroit (12-25) scored 55 points and shot 50 percent from the field in the first two quarters. After halftime, the Pistons managed just 27 points while shooting 27.5 percent from the field.
The Bulls took the lead when Deng stole a pass intended for Tracy McGrady and finished a fastbreak slam to make it 71-70 with 1:27 left in the third.
“I'd like to see us do it for 48 minutes and be consistent with it,” coach Tom Thibodeau said of the second-half defense. “That's something we have to improve upon. We have to go out on the road (to Charlotte and Indiana) and I don't think you can afford to come out like that.”
Mike McGraw's game tracker
Bulls 95, Pistons 82
<B>Dominant defense:</B> There was a strong contrast between the two halves of this game. Detroit scored 55 points and shot 50 percent from the field in the first half. Then the visitors managed just 27 points on 27.5-percent shooting after halftime and the Bulls rallied for a routine win.
<B>Wanna go higher: </B>Derrick Rose turned in one of his all-time dunks early in the fourth quarter, going high above the rim to finish a one-handed dunk off an alley-oop from Ronnie Brewer.
<B>Sweet talking: </B>Pistons coach John Kuester had nice things to say about Derrick Rose, who finished with 29 points. “I enjoy everything about him,” Kuester said. “Not only is he gifted as a player ... but he has a passion for the game.”