Laugher lifts Bulls into first place

The Bulls grew accustomed to rolling to easy wins without a full lineup this season.

The first time they visited Cleveland, they won by 39 while Derrick Rose sat out with a toe injury on Jan. 20.

Making their second trip to Quicken Loans Arena on Friday, the Bulls had their full lineup, while Cavaliers rookie point guard Kyrie Irving was scratched because of flu-like symptoms. The Cavs said Irving caught a bug during all-star weekend that finally caught up to him.

Cleveland managed to stay a little closer this time, but the Bulls still coasted to a 112-91 victory. Coupled with Miami's 1-point loss at Utah, the Bulls (30-8) moved past the Heat (28-8) into first place in the Eastern Conference.

“Our guys' attitude has been great all season,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters after the game. “In this league, you get in trouble if you feel good about a win you had in the last game or you look ahead to another opponent. You have to concentrate on what's in front of you. Being ready is the big thing.”

Luol Deng led the Bulls with 24 points, while going a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point land. Over his career, Deng is a 34-percent shooter from long range. Since coming back from a torn ligament in his left wrist on Feb. 4, he's knocked down 30 of 61 attempts from behind the arc, nearly 50 percent.

Speaking of 3-point shooters, Kyle Korver knocked down 3 in a row from long range during a 17-5 run in the second quarter that took the Bulls' lead from 3 points to 15.

The Bulls lead the league in assists and continued to move the ball well, piling up 31 assists in this game. Rose led the way with 9 assists and 19 points.

“The ball movement was great,” Thibodeau said. “The ball didn't stick. Everyone was conscious of making the extra pass to the open man. In the second quarter, Kyle got us going. We had good ball movement, inside-out.”

Leading by 12 points at halftime, the Bulls outscored Cleveland 38-27 in the third quarter and the most of the starters sat out the fourth quarter.

Brian Scalabrine capped off the Bulls' 10-for-20 night from 3-point range by knocking down a 3 in the final minute. Carlos Boozer added 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Ronnie Brewer contributed 13 points off the bench.

Richard Hamilton had his best performance since coming back from a monthlong injury layoff, scoring 10 points and hitting 5 of 8 shots.

Rose was disappointed that he still hasn't had a chance to play against Irving, the No. 1 draft pick last June and likely a front-runner for rookie of the year.

“He's a good young player,” Rose said. “I was watching him all the time at Duke. I just can't wait for it.”

Cavaliers coach Byron Scott talked about the futility of creating a defensive plan to try to stop Rose.

“The one thing you want to try to get him to do is shoot jump shots, clog the paint,” Scott said. “But when you're coming down in transition, he's just one of those guys who has an unbelievable ability to get to the basket and make shots, even with contact.

“You've got to give him a lot of credit. He is a special basketball player, that's the bottom line.”

Next up for the Bulls is a back-to-back battle with the No. 3 and 4 teams in the East playoff race. They play at Philadelphia on Sunday, then host Indiana on Monday. The Bulls are 0-2 against those teams this season.

mmcgraw@dailyherald.com