Rose sets pace quickly; Deng looks strong in return
MILWAUKEE — Maybe the best way to explain what happened Saturday night in Milwaukee is Derrick Rose took it upon himself to ease Luol Deng back into the lineup.
Deng was back after missing seven games with a torn ligament in his left wrist. So Rose made things easier for his teammates by scoring 16 points in the opening six minutes, which set the stage for a 113-90 blowout win over the Bucks before a very pro-Bulls crowd at the Bradley Center.
Rose finished the night with 26 points and 13 assists, hitting 11 of 24 shots overall. The opening flurry brought back memories of Bucks guard Brandon Jennings torching the nets for 16 points in the first quarter of the Jan. 27 game at the United Center, which the Bulls also won.
“Derrick remembers things, and I think the last time we played Milwaukee, Brandon Jennings really came at him in the first quarter,” Bulls forward Kyle Korver said. “Derrick, he looks for anything. I think he really wanted to attack.”
Asked about his fast start, Rose never mentioned Jennings. He just talked about playing his own style.
“That's what I live for, that's the way Chicago players play,” Rose said. “They play aggressive. If anything, I love that. It makes me want to play harder. That's all I tried to do tonight.”
Once Rose gave the Bulls a comfortable 30-16 lead after the first quarter, the story was Deng. He looked like his usual self with 21 points and 9 rebounds, while playing 41 minutes.
“It felt great,” Deng said. “I felt a little hesitant (early in the game). I was a little worried about getting bumped and falling in the beginning of the game when I kind of missed those layups.”
Eventually, Deng took the usual hacks across the wrist and fell after a layup in the fourth quarter. He came away feeling confident the wrist can take a typical NBA pounding.
Deng tore a ligament in his left wrist against Charlotte on Jan. 21 and chose not to repair the damage by surgery. The plan was to start playing again as soon as the pain was at a reasonable level, and this was the night.
“It's been day to day,” he said. “I was going to play in New York (on Thursday). But if I played in New York; today is two weeks (since the injury happened). I was told 4-6 weeks; rest it four weeks and then come back.
“I knew when I had the injury, the way it felt, that I could recover quick. When I was in New York, I was going to play, but I got sore. I did some stuff with Scal (Brian Scalabrine) in Philly, we did a lot of 3-on-3 and 1-on-1, and it got sore the next day. So in New York we wanted to be smart and let it be two weeks.”
Deng reported a few moments of weariness, but for the most part he stepped right back into the same old rotation as if he'd never missed a day. He hit 9 of 19 shots from the field and knocked down 3 baskets from 3-point range.
“In the second half, especially the third, I felt a little tired; legs got a little heavy,” he said. “Not necessarily winded, just my legs felt real tired. There were a couple plays I normally finish and a couple rebounds I normally go after. I felt a little hesitant.”
The Bulls (20-6) shot well all night. They finished with an uncharacteristic 30 attempts from 3-point range but knocked down 14 of them. Kyle Korver added 18 points, Joakim Noah had 14 and C.J. Watson 13.
Center Drew Gooden led the Bucks (10-13) with 24 points, while Jennings scored just 8.
mmcgraw@dailyherald.com