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Stat line for Rose a winner for Bulls

The Bulls' 113-111 overtime victory at Golden State late Tuesday not only ended the Warriors' 19-game home winning streak, it qualified as one of the NBA games of the year.

But what about that stat line for Derrick Rose? He finished with 30 points on 13-of-33 shooting. He also had 11 turnovers, 7 rebounds and 1 assist.

Rose also hit the game-winning basket, a 20-foot jumper over Klay Thompson with seven seconds left in overtime. So it couldn't possibly be the worst 30-point performance in history, as some has suggested.

NBA on TNT analyst Brent Barry, who will call the Bulls-Lakers game on Thursday, shared his thoughts in a phone interview.

"I'm not an extremist, so I'll never go as far as to say the worst 30-point game," Barry said. "But I will say it was quite interesting. He made so many big plays and so many boneheaded plays at the same time, it's hard to say what he impacted more - the winning part or the fact that the Bulls couldn't pull away from Golden State."

True, it's tough to defend all those turnovers. Many were bad-idea, cross-court passes that were easily stolen and led to some of Golden State's 31 fastbreak points.

The rest of it shouldn't be criticized. At two different points in the game, Rose's offense almost single-handedly kept the Bulls in the game - at the beginning when the Warriors couldn't miss and then in the fourth quarter when the Bulls erased an 11-point deficit.

At one point, Rose was 12-for-24 from the field for 28 points. He then missed 8 shots in a row, and most were wobbly-legged 3-pointers that barely drew iron. But with the score tied in overtime, Rose buried the game-winner, giving the Bulls one of the most impressive victories of the NBA season.

Thompson also finished with 30 points, and he didn't score during the final 8:54 of the contest. Thompson missed an uncontested 12-foot runner at the buzzer that could have tied the score.

Winning should be more important than style points.

It's tough to tell if Rose made good passes that should have been assists. The one assist he dished out led to Kirk Hinrich's go-ahead 3-pointer with 15 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

"He made plays when it counted," Barry said. "It would be a shame for people not to recognize the contributions that Derrick was making on Steph Curry defensively."

Curry finished with 21 points on 9-of-23 shooting. The Bulls somehow managed to turn the "Splash Brothers" into the "Thud Brothers" during the course of the game. After a hot start, Golden State was 0-for-13 from 3-point range in the second half and overtime. They were 9-for-20 in the first half.

Here are a couple more take-aways from Tuesday's contest:

• The biggest missing ingredient for the Bulls is a healthy Joakim Noah.

The Bulls have done OK without Noah sometimes, including last week's victory over San Antonio. But when Noah plays like he did at Golden State - 18 points, 15 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals - the team seems capable of greatness.

"To me, it's simple. The team is 12-3 when they're complete," Barry said. "They've had 15 games with the preferred lineup. I just don't feel like there's any need to be in any kind of panic mode for how Chicago's going to be, once they have everybody at their disposal."

• Having a long-range shooter to spread the floor makes a big difference in the Bulls' offense.

That's one reason why the recent slump roughly coincided with the loss of Mike Dunleavy to an ankle injury. Opponents respect Dunleavy's 3-point shooting, and he's also a willing passer.

That's a reason the Bulls had success with their tall front line Tuesday and Nikola Mirotic at small forward. Mirotic has been up and down, but he was on against the Warriors with 12 points and 7 rebounds. He played nearly the entire fourth quarter and overtime.

The NBA announced Wednesday that Mirotic will take part in the Rising Stars Challenge during all-star weekend. He will play on the "World" team against a group of U.S. first- and second-year players.

The Bulls, meanwhile, will try to avoid a letdown against the Lakers. They are 7-3 against the top eight teams in the West, with road wins over the Warriors, Mavs, Clippers and Grizzlies. They've also lost six home games to sub-.500 teams.

• Get the latest Bulls news via Twitter by following @McGrawDHBulls.

Will Butler join Gasol?

Chicago Bulls' Derrick Rose (1) shoots over Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) Associated Press
Chicago Bulls' Derrick Rose reacts after making the game-winning shot against the Golden State Warriors during overtime of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015, in Oakland, Calif. Chicago won 113-111. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) Associated Press

Bulls game day

Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center, 9:30 p.m.

TV: Comcast SportsNet, TNT

Radio: ESPN 1000-AM

Outlook: Kobe Bryant is out for the season with a torn rotator cuff, and the lineup the Lakers are putting on the floor doesn't seem impressive. But they gave Washington a tough game Tuesday. SG Nick Young (14.1 ppg) missed the 98-92 loss with an ankle injury. His status for tonight is unknown. The Lakers (12-34) are stuck in a nine-game losing streak. Besides Bryant and Young, their top scorers are PF Jordan Hill (12.2 ppg) and ex-Bull Carlos Boozer (12.1). The Lakers started a backcourt of Wayne Ellington and rookie Jordan Clarkson against the Wizards. The Bulls pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Lakers 113-93 at the UC on Dec. 25.

Next: Phoenix Suns at US Airways Arena, 9:30 p.m. Friday

- Mike McGraw

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