Gordon, Rose move Bulls past Bucks in standings
Ben Gordon and Derrick Rose are beginning to complement each other like a speedy tailback and bruising fullback in football.
During a 117-102 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday at the United Center, Gordon scored 34 points, mostly on long-range jumpers. Rose, meanwhile, delivered the majority of his 27 points on drives to the basket.
Together, they give the Bulls sort of a sprint-and-shoot attack, which was extremely effective against ex-Bulls coach Scott Skiles' new Bucks squad.
Throw in Kirk Hinrich's 11 points, and the Bulls guards hit a combined 24 of 41 shots (58.5 percent) and added 17 assists.
"When BG gets in a rhythm like that, he starts making difficult shots," Skiles said. "Guys are hanging all over him and he's making shots. I felt like certain pockets of the game, we did a respectable job on (Rose). We kind of stepped aside a couple times and let guys lay the ball in the basket."
The victory gave the Bulls (29-34) sole possession of eighth place and the final playoff position in the Eastern Conference, with Milwaukee a game back.
The Bulls are even in the win column with seventh-place Philadelphia but trail the 76ers by 2 games overall. The Bulls also clinched the season series with the Bucks 3-1, which means they would hold the edge in any two-way tiebreaker.
"This was a big game tonight," Gordon said. "So now, we just want to approach these next 19 games like we did tonight. They're all playoff games, and we just have to worry about how we're playing. We can't worry about what anybody else is doing."
Rose said he got some pointers from Hinrich and coach Vinny Del Negro at halftime on how to slow down on the pick-and-roll, then attack the basket when the floor opens up.
"The guy is fast, there's no doubt about that," center Brad Miler said. "He's a rookie and he's getting better. He proved that he can play, now as you keep going in this league, you learn how to be a crafty person."
The Bulls trailed by 7 points early but cranked up the offense to score 38 points in the second quarter, matching a season-high. They hit 5 of 7 attempts from 3-point range in the quarter and hustled their way to 17 fastbreak points.
Gordon's third 3-pointer in less than four minutes capped a 24-9 run and gave the Bulls' their largest lead of the first half at 57-41 with 3:44 left.
Milwaukee pulled within 3 points twice early in the fourth quarter. The Bulls hit some tough shots during an 8-0 run that opened a 95-84 advantage with 8:10 remaining. Gordon and Miller dropped runners in traffic, while John Salmons (21 points) drilled a long jumper with Richard Jefferson in his face.
The Bulls also knocked down 37 of 45 free throws, compared to 22 attempts by the Bucks.
"We were soft," Skiles said. "Guys were just laying the ball in and we were hitting them on the wrist, giving them 3-point plays. Other than having the 10-5 lead, when they started to turn it up a little bit, we weren't able to go with them."
Knowing what was at stake, the Bucks (29-36) put up a good fight. Besides playing with energy, they took 3 hard fouls to prevent Bulls layups.
Early in the fourth quarter. Milwaukee guard Luke Ridnour came up injured after wrestling Miller for defensive position. During the ensuing time out, Ridnour even made a move toward the Bulls bench but was held back by Bucks trainer Marc Boff.
"It is only one game, but it almost seems like two or three," Skiles said before tipoff. "Whatever teams wins it ends up feeling pretty good about themselves."
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