Bulls win without Rose

Doug McDermott isn't planning to start naming his dunks.

On Wednesday at the United Center, for the first time in his NBA career, McDermott was at least able to number them.

McDermott dunked twice, scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, and the Bulls pulled off a short-handed victory over the Washington Wizards 109-104, stretching their win steak to three games.

The Bulls played without Derrick Rose, a late scratch after having a recurrence of right hamstring tendinitis.

"I knew he had some soreness throughout the day, came in early and got treatment," coach Fred Hoiberg said. "We really didn't make the determination until he met with Dr. (Brian) Cole around 5:30."

Rose missed three games in late December, early January with the same injury. Before the game, Rose said it was his decision to be cautious with the injury.

So the Bulls used an unimposing starting lineup of E'Twaun Moore at point guard with Tony Snell, Mike Dunleavy, Taj Gibson and Pau Gasol. For the most part, though, this was a reverse replay of the first time these teams played in January. That night, Washington was missing two starters, but played harder and rolled past the Bulls.

This time, the Bulls were missing three of their top four scorers, with Jimmy Butler and Nikola Mirotic still on the shelf. Gasol had been sick the past two days and the Bulls weren't even sure if he'd play until shortly before tip-off.

The Bulls (30-26) kept up some good habits, collecting 26 assists and winning the rebound battle 50-42. Rapid ball movement helps McDermott, who is learning to move without the ball and can get his shot off quickly.

In the third quarter, McDermott caught a pass and was able to beat a recovering John Wall on the baseline. McDermott kept going and tossed down an actual poster dunk, dropping a one-handier over Markieff Morris.

"I had no idea I could even do that, really," McDermott said. "I had the perfect steps. I timed it out perfect. I didn't realize there was a guy there, to be honest, and just threw it down. I think it was my first basket of the night. Once I got that, it just propelled me the rest of the way."

McDermott delivered a second dunk in the fourth quarter, this one uncontested off a pass from Gibson. It didn't bother McDermott that he had doubters among both fans and teammates.

"I was joking around with some kids sitting courtside," he said. "They said, 'I didn't know you had that in you.' I was like, 'Yeah, neither did I.'

"Taj was pretty hyped up. (His teammates) were more probably just in shock. Jimmy said it was good for a white boy, so we'll take that as a compliment."

The Bulls led by as many as 15 points in the third quarter. Washington got within 3 points a few times in the fourth, but McDermott and Moore turned out to be a good go-to combination. They scored 18 of the Bulls' 20 points in the final quarter and combined to hit 8 of 12 shots from the field.

Gibson and Moore finished with 17 points each, Snell scored 16, while McDermott and Dunleavy had 14 points. Gasol just missed a triple-double, finishing with 10 points, 15 rebounds and 9 assists. Aaron Brooks missed a jumper in the final minute that would have given Gasol that 10th assist.

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