Rose pours in 32 in win over Hawks 101-98
Derrick Rose's habit this season has been to begin most every sentence during media interviews with "I told you -"
After Rose scored a regular-season-high 32 points and the Bulls rallied to knock off Atlanta 101-98 in overtime on Saturday at the United Center, it was more of an, "I told you so."
"I told you in practice we've been playing hard," Rose said in the locker room. "We knew coming into this game we had a chance of winning just by us practicing the way we were practicing. Everybody's just focused now and it seems like everybody's on the right page."
Rose's message seemed to be if people thought about giving up on the Bulls' season after a brutal 35-point loss at Atlanta on Dec. 9, the players still believe.
The Bulls (10-15) pulled off the victory despite looking overmatched by the Hawks (19-7) for much of the game and falling behind 88-79 with 4:12 remaining. Shooting guard Joe Johnson was brilliant, hitting 16 of 32 field goals and scoring 40 points, but he didn't get enough help from his teammates.
Kirk Hinrich's 3-pointer brought the Bulls within 2 with 2:37 remaining, then Atlanta scored twice after Al Horford offensive rebounds.
The Bulls finally got a stop and rebound, though, when Johnson's short jumper rolled off the rim. Joakim Noah got the outlet pass to Rose on the run and the second-year point guard flew past Johnson, then right over NBA shot-block leader Josh Smith for the tying lay in with 35.3 seconds left.
Johnson missed another jumper, giving the Bulls a chance to win. But they could never get the ball to Rose, who was face-guarded aggressively by Johnson. Luol Deng improvised and left a 19-footer just short as time expired.
"If we lock down like we did in the fourth quarter, toward the end of the game to come back, that will give us a chance every night," said guard John Salmons. "If we can consistently do that and bring energy, maybe we can turn the season around."
Salmons hit the Bulls' biggest basket of overtime, a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2:21 remaining. Atlanta took possession with 19.8 seconds left with a chance to take the lead, but Johnson tossed a driving bank shot too hard off the backboard.
After Rose hit a pair of free throws, Johnson missed a potential tying 3-pointer with about four seconds on the clock.
Rose, who hit 14 of 24 shots, recorded his only previous 30-point game in the NBA in Game 1 of last season's playoff series against Boston.
"I really don't care about my stats," he said. "I just want to win."
Deng added 21 points and Salmons had 16 for the Bulls, who shot 48 percent from the field, built a two-game win streak for the first time in a month and gave the fans free hamburgers by scoring 100 points in a home victory for the first time all season.
<p class="factboxtext12col"><b>Mike McGraw's game tracker</b></p> <p class="factboxtext12col">Bulls 101, Hawks 98 (OT)</p> <p class="factboxtext12col">Rosey comeback: The Bulls trailed 88-79 with 4:12 left in regulation, but Derrick Rose led a frantic comeback, and a John Salmons' 3-pointer, of all things, propelled the home team to an overtime victory. Consider the 35-point loss in Atlanta on Dec. 9 avenged.</p> <p class="factboxtext12col">Star quality: Atlanta's Joe Johnson was no less impressive than Kobe Bryant earlier this week, scoring 40 points while hitting 16 of 32 shots. Rose wasn't bad, either, hitting his regular-season career-high with 32 points.</p> <p class="factboxtext12col">Mirror image: The Bulls are on a two-game winning streak, their first since Nov. 14-17 when they built an early 6-4 record.</p>