Thunder puts a stop to Rose in Bulls loss

Derrick Rose has been rolling lately, but Monday night's game against Oklahoma City might have been the most glaring example yet of a team going all out to stop Rose and dare the rest of the Bulls to beat them.

After the Bulls controlled the first half, the Thunder stuck 6-foot-7 former Bulls guard Thabo Sefolosha on Rose. The rest of Oklahoma City's defense sagged back, cutting off the lanes to the basket, and Rose often was swarmed by three or four defenders.

The strategy worked to perfection.

Oklahoma City turned the game around by outscoring the Bulls 32-14 in the third quarter and rolled to a 98-85 victory in front of some unhappy fans at the United Center.

The Bulls (14-18) ended a season-high, four-game winning streak.

The locker room cleared out quickly, but Rose stopped in the entry way on his way to a charter flight to Charlotte.

"That's exactly what they were doing, but I can't complain," Rose said of the Thunder's defensive strategy. "I've still got to go out there and play, try to make my team better and shoot shots. Tonight the shots just weren't falling. Tomorrow, hopefully, all of them go in."

Rose didn't have a bad game by any means. He finished with 19 points, 7 assists and hit 9 of 20 shots from the field. But the Bulls couldn't get anything going in the third quarter and never recovered.

One of the Thunder's assistant coaches is Ron Adams, who helped design defenses for the Bulls under Scott Skiles and Bill Cartwright.

"Derrick Rose is a terrific player and he's on a good roll right now, but I thought Thabo did a good job of making it very tough on him," said Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks. "Our defense did a good job of getting tight, collapsed the paint, made him kick out, and we did a good job of closing down the shooters."

Shooters? What shooters? The Bulls shot a miserable 35.4 percent from the field.

John Salmons went 1-for-8, Tyrus Thomas 3-for-12 and Luol Deng 6-for-17. The Bulls had been doing a better job getting to the foul line in recent games, but they shot just 16 free throws Monday, none in the decisive third quarter.

"I don't care who you put on Derrick, he has the ability to break you down off the dribble and do some things," Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said. "We settled for too many jumpers. We kind of got in that rut again."

Another odd stat in this game was the Bulls pulling down a season-high 25 offensive rebounds, led by Joakim Noah with 7. But their advantage in second-chance points was just 22-18.

"They definitely picked up their intensity in the second half," Noah said. "They were a lot more physical with me and Taj (Gibson)."

The game featured a 21-point swing in the third quarter. The Bulls lead 56-49 shortly after halftime, then hit a dry spell and went scoreless for a five-minute stretch. Meanwhile, Oklahoma City had Russell Westbrook (29 points) and Kevin Durant (25) draining jumpers.

The Bulls trailed by 4 when Noah went to the bench with his fourth foul, and Oklahoma City (19-15) stretched the lead to 79-66 by the end of the third.

The Thunder's lead peaked at 86-68 with 7:36 remaining.

Rose scored 9 quick points to bring the Bulls within 10, then missed a driving attempt that would have brought the deficit to single digits. On the other end, Sefolosha grabbed a loose ball and finished a lay-in to make it 89-77 with 4:14 remaining.

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<p class="factboxheadblack">Mike McGraw's game tracker</p>

<p class="News">Thunder 98, Bulls 85</p>

<p class="News"><b>Things are not OK: </b>The Bulls' four-game winning streak came to a crashing halt after they were outscored 32-14 by Oklahoma City in the third quarter Monday at the United Center. The home team shot a miserable 35 percent from the field against the Thunder's packed-in, Derrick Rose-oriented defense.</p>

<p class="News"><b>Dynamic duo:</b> Thunder guard Russell Westbrook poured in 29 points and forward Kevin Durant added 25, while the supporting cast knocked down enough wide-open 3-pointers to keep the Bulls at bay.</p>

<p class="News"><b>Bad bounces:</b> The Bulls grabbed a season-high 25 offensive rebounds, led by Joakim Noah with 7, but managed a meager 22-18 edge in the second-chance points.</p>

<p class="factboxheadblack">Bulls game day</p>

<p class="News">Charlotte Bobcats at Time Warner Cable Arena, 6 p.m.</p>

<p class="News"><b>TV:</b> Comcast SportsNet</p>

<p class="News"><b>Radio:</b> WMVP 1000-AM</p>

<p class="News"><b>Update:</b> Coach Larry Brown must be getting through to the Bobcats. In the last two games, Charlotte (14-18) has knocked off Miami and Cleveland on the road. Before that the Bobcats were 1-14 on the road, which means they're a formidable 11-4 at home. Since arriving from Golden State, SG Stephen Jackson has averaged 20.0 points, while SF Gerald Wallace is at 17.9 points and 11.9 rebounds. Center Tyson Chandler has a foot injury and is not expected to play. The Bulls beat Charlotte 93-90 at the UC on Nov. 7.</p>

<p class="News"><b>Next:</b> Milwaukee Bucks at the Bradley Center, 7:30 p.m. Friday</p>