Salmons, Bulls surprise Celtics 127-121

The Bulls probably didn't envision veteran center Brad Miller as the perfect complement to rookie Derrick Rose when they traded for him last month.

There's a 12-year age difference between the two, and the speed discrepancy is even wider.

"I don't know what kind of music he listens to, probably not the same playlist as me," Miller said. "But you get on the court and just try to help him out.

"Point guards make a big difference in this league. The best ones are big-time closers."

Miller and Rose scored 21 of 23 points for the Bulls during a late stretch of a tense fourth quarter. Their big finishes helped the Bulls erase a 13-point deficit and outrun the short-handed Boston Celtics 127-121 on Tuesday night at the United Center.

Wearing their green uniforms in honor of St. Patrick's Day, the Bulls (31-37) won their seventh straight home game and moved back ahead of Milwaukee for eighth place in the East.

Rose finished with a meager 11 points but produced 9 points and 4 assists in the final eight minutes. Miller scored 13 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and had 4 huge offensive rebounds.

"I didn't think he was in attack mode the first three quarters," coach Vinny Del Negro said of Rose. "We talked a little bit and opened up the middle, then he was attacking the basket. We're a different team when he does that. The whole energy level and confidence of the team goes up."

During the Rose-Miller surge, the only Bulls basket by a different player came when forward John Salmons blew past Ray Allen for a reverse dunk that broke a 113-113 tie and put the Bulls ahead for good with 2:29 left.

Rose's lane drive stretched the lead to 4, then Salmons essentially clinched the win with a lane runner and 3-point play to make it 122-117 with 1:02 left.

Salmons matched his career high by scoring 38 points, hitting 14 of 20 shots from the field and outscoring Boston counterpart Paul Pierce by 1 point.

Normally, any result associated with the defending NBA champions wouldn't be considered an embarrassing loss. But this would have been a bad one for the Bulls, since the Celtics (50-18) were not only missing all-star Kevin Garnett for the 12th straight game with a knee injury, his replacement, Glenn Davis, was out with an ankle sprain.

Then four minutes into the game, Davis' replacement, Leon Powe, left with a bruised knee and didn't return.

"We look like a team with not enough players," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "I was really happy with our guys."

Rivers was ejected after picking up his second technical foul with 29.8 seconds remaining, later calling it the most unprofessional technical by a referee he has ever had.

Boston ranked second in the league in points allowed at 92.6 heading into this game. The Celtics' previous season high in points allowed was 117.

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