McGraw: Big men dominate for Bulls in win
MILWAUKEE - Derrick Rose seemed far from 100 percent healthy when he returned to action Wednesday night.
Teammate Taj Gibson said Rose delivered a message at one point in the game.
"He told us, 'Just keep fighting.' He said, 'I'm going to give it my all in the fourth,' and that's what he did," Gibson said.
Hmmm, the stats don't really back up that statement. Rose had 3 points, 2 turnovers and no assists in the fourth quarter, but the Bulls still hung on to win 95-86, stretching their winning streak at the Bradley Center to nine games.
"I didn't even show up for the fourth," Rose said with a laugh. "Just trying to play, man. Of course, I wasn't 100 percent tonight.
"I really couldn't get to the hole as much as I wanted to. I had no fastbreak points or anything, but I was able still, I think, to affect the game and draw people in with double teams to help out my teammates."
Actually, it was the big men who dominated this victory. Gibson finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds, while Pau Gasol had 22 points and 14 boards. Rose contributed 13 points and 7 assists.
The Bucks (2-3) aren't an obvious candidate to get dominated inside, since they have shot blockers such as Larry Sanders, John Henson and Giannis Antetokounmpo on the floor most of the time. Their interior defense was ineffective on this night.
Joakim Noah missed his second straight game due to an illness but was in the locker room after the game and in good spirits.
"I was just playing my normal game," Gibson said. "I can face up, I can put my back to the basket. I wasn't worried about the height factor. I go against Pau every day in practice. It gets no better than that."
Rose missed the previous two games after spraining both ankles last Friday against Cleveland. Few people expected Rose to play when the Bulls issued an injury report earlier in the day with Rose listed a questionable.
"At first, yeah, this morning it was kind of tough," Rose said. "But when I came over to the arena, I knew right away I was going to play. They taped me up, I stretched, did everything I was supposed to do and I felt all right, so I tried to give it a go."
Rose missed his first 3 shots but settled down a bit after drilling a 3-pointer late in the first quarter.
"To tell you the truth, I wasn't worried about offensively, because we're good offensively," Rose said. "Before the game, I told Thibs that I was worried about defense, moving around. On defense, you have to react."
The Bulls (4-1) trailed 53-49 at halftime, then went into the locker room and figured out how to play defense. The Bucks scored just 37 points and shot 30.2 percent from the field after intermission.
This was a tough one to put away, though. The Bulls never trailed in the fourth quarter, but the lead was just 79-78 with 5:35 remaining. Gasol hit a jumper and Jimmy Butler scored on a reverse lay-in to create some breathing room. Then Kirk Hinrich drained a corner 3-pointer off a pass from Butler and the Bulls led 88-80 with 2:46 left.
Depth has been the Bulls' best asset so far this season, but it dried up Wednesday. They finished with 13 points off the bench, 9 by Hinrich.
This was the second night in a row the Bulls gave up 50 points in the first half, then turned on the defense.
"We're dodging bullets right now," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "That's an area we have to shore up. If a team gets confidence early on you, it's hard to turn them off. You want to make them work for their points early so they don't get into a rhythm."
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