Holy cow, Pau: Big guy hits career-high 46

When this night began, it appeared Derrick Rose's absence because of soreness in his left knee would be the primary storyline.

But then Pau Gasol scored the Bulls' first 7 points Saturday against Milwaukee and kept on rolling. By the end of the game, Gasol had recorded perhaps the best performance by a big man in franchise history.

Gasol finished with a career-high 46 points in a 95-87 victory over the Bucks at the United Center, which snapped a two-game losing streak. Gasol hit 17 of 30 shots from the field, adding 18 rebounds and 3 assists.

"One thing about Pau I've noticed, when he gets it going early, it's a wide-open ballgame for him," teammate Taj Gibson said.

Gasol scored 20 points in the opening quarter to get his career night off to a fast start. In the third quarter, Bucks coach Jason Kidd tried a different tactic and used 6-foot-7 Jared Dudley to guard Gasol, keeping big men like Zaza Pachulia and Giannis Antetokounmpo hovering nearby to provide some help.

That worked for a little while, but Gasol hit 40 points before the end of the third quarter. He was getting it done mostly with hook shots and midrange jumpers, but also knocked 12 of 13 free throws.

"You're talking about a guy who's as highly skilled a big guy as there is in the NBA and he's been that for a long time," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said.

Gasol, 34, has been rolling all season for the Bulls, but it is surprising he could produce his best NBA performance in his 14th season.

"I was able to get a good base, that's always a good sign for me," Gasol said in the locker room. "When the jumper was falling, you know you're on. It was a good overall night."

Shortly after the game ended, Gasol did an in-house interview on the video board and referenced his previous career high of 44 points against Seattle in 2006, when he played for Memphis.

"My two (previous) 40-plus games, we lost," he said. "I don't usually like guys having that amount of points because it takes away rhythm of the other players. I'm all about balance and team game. I'm glad we were able to take advantage of it and win the game."

The Bulls (26-12) were coming off a rough loss in Washington on Friday and played without Rose, but Gasol said he didn't come into the game thinking he needed to do anything special.

"It just kind of happened," he said. "You hit your first 3 shots, teammates kook for you, you get in rhythm. Tonight it was me, another night it's going to be another guy. We have so many weapons. They took away Jimmy (Butler's) looks and they tried to double him a lot all over the floor. So I was the one kind of open."

Butler contributed a career-high 10 assists to Saturday's victory. Kirk Hinrich was the only other Bulls player to reach double-digit scoring, with 16 points.

Before the game, Thibodeau didn't provide much insight on Rose's sore knee. His left knee is where he tore the ACL in 2012. Asked if he was concerned, Thibodeau gave his standard response, "I'm always concerned."

"He had a little bit of soreness (Friday), so we just want to see where he is," Thibodeau said. "He'll see Dr. (Brian) Cole tonight and then we'll go from there."

• Mike Dunleavy had an MRI on his right ankle Saturday. Before the game, the fifth straight he has missed, Dunleavy said he did not know the results and expected to meet later with team doctor Brian Cole.

• With Rose and Dunleavy out, Tony Snell made his first start of the season. Snell started 12 times last year as a rookie.

• The highest scoring game by a Bulls center had been 42 points by Artis Gilmore against the Kansas City Kings on March 18, 1977. The Bulls' last 50-point game was by Jamal Crawford at Toronto on Apr. 1, 2004.

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