Rose perks up after losing mask

Here's some encouraging news for the Bulls: Since taking off his protective face mask at halftime of last week's game against the Los Angeles Clippers, Derrick Rose is shooting an even 50 percent from the field, 20 for 40.

With the mask, Rose shot 35.4 percent early in the season. He's struggled with blurry vision in his left eye all year, thanks to a broken orbital bone.

Rose scored 19 points in Wednesday's 98-85 win over Memphis.

"I think the big thing was the burst that he played with," coach Fred Hoiberg said. "You could tell early on that he had it. I could tell at shootaround he had it. It was great to see him attacking the rim. We're a better team when Derrick can get in the paint and make plays. I thought he did that every minute he was on the floor (Wednesday)."

Hoiberg predicts big game:

Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg had a feeling Derrick Rose would play well against the Grizzlies. Rose started hot, scoring 10 points in the first quarter, his highest total this season.

"You could tell on the first possession that he had pop, he had explosiveness," Hoiberg said. "I saw it at shootaround. I actually sent him a message at about 1 o'clock in the afternoon and just told him how much I loved his energy in shootaround, I loved his pop.

"He sent me a message back saying, 'I'm going to have a great game.' So it was fun to see him. You could see the explosiveness. He was getting into the paint, finishing. He just set the tone for our team with his aggressive drives to the basket.

Bull horns:

Mike Dunleavy is away from the team for a few days while seeing a back specialist. The veteran forward hasn't played this season after having back surgery just before training camp. … Kendall Gill will return to the Bulls pre- and postgame shows on Comcast SportsNet beginning Friday, according to Crain's Chicago. Gill will serve as a second analyst alongside Will Perdue.