Rose leads Bulls over Wizards 121-119 in double OT
The Bulls have been terrible most of the season in the second leg of back-to-back games.
The second of back-to-back overtimes turned out much better against Washington on Friday at the United Center.
Derrick Rose scored a career-high 37 points and capped the performance with his first true game-winning shot as a pro. Rose sank a one-hander in the lane with 5.4 seconds remaining after putting a spin move on Randy Foye, giving the Bulls an exhausting 121-119 victory in double overtime.
"These are the type of games you dream about when you're younger," Rose said in the locker room. "Unlike most people, I'm playing in my hometown, so everybody's standing up cheering for me. I've got the ball in my hand at the end of the game and everybody's looking at you, seeing what you're going to do.
"It's crazy. I really couldn't believe it. I don't show no emotion anyway, so I was cool. But I was happy, though."
Coming off a nice road win at Boston the previous night, the Bulls (18-20) faced a dangerous home date against Washington, perhaps the league's greatest underachiever this season.
The Wizards lost 15 of their previous 20 games and earlier this week ended Detroit's 13-game losing streak. But they have a lineup full of scorers, even without suspended guard Gilbert Arenas.
"These games are hard because you come in and you're on Cloud Nine, because you beat a good team," Rose said. "And teams like this can easily come in and beat you and just crush everything because they have great players on (the Wizards)."
Veteran forward Antawn Jamison finished with 34 points and 18 rebounds for Washington, while Caron Butler scored 27. With a chance to win it at the end of regulation and the first overtime, the Wizards turned to Foye.
At the end of the fourth quarter, Foye had the ball stolen by Kirk Hinrich with five seconds remaining. On the other end, Rose watched a 19-foot jumper go halfway down and rim out as time expired.
Late in the first overtime, Foye came up short on an 18-footer. The Bulls got a timeout with 0.9 seconds on the clock, but a lob pass for Rose was knocked away.
While winning their fourth straight, the Bulls needed five players to log at least 41 minutes, led by Rose at just over 50 minutes.
"I really did not want that third overtime," said forward Luol Deng. "Kirk did a good job (defensively) and I was so happy Derrick hit that shot. I was so happy to see the buzzer go off."
After Rose sent the Bulls ahead, Foye got another shot at the end of the second overtime, but a 17-foot baseline jumper over Hinrich missed the rim.
The Bulls got a couple of breaks in the second overtime. Trailing by 2, Deng dropped in a lane runner while Wizards center Brendan Haywood was caught shoving Joakim Noah in the back. The referees counted the basket and gave Noah a free throw, which sent the Bulls ahead 119-118 with 1:11 remaining.
The teams traded misses and Noah thought he tied up Haywood after a defensive rebound. It was called a foul on Noah instead, but Haywood missed 1 of the free throws to keep the score tied with 27.4 seconds left.
This one started to look like trouble for the Bulls when Washington opened a 7-point lead early in the fourth quarter. The visitors led 99-95 with 2:28 left in the fourth before a Hinrich 3-pointer and Rose jumper put the Bulls up by 1.
<p class="factboxheadblack">Mike McGraw's game tracker</p>
<p class="News">Bulls 121, Wizards 119 (2 OTs)</p>
<p class="News"><b>Marathon men:</b> The Bulls would have spoiled Thursday's win at Boston if they lost to the struggling Wizards. But Derrick Rose didn't let the home fans down, scoring a career-high 37 points, including a one-hander in the lane with 5.4 seconds remaining to provide the winning margin.</p>
<p class="News"><b>Woeful Wizards:</b> Even without suspended guard Gilbert Arenas, Washington has a talented group. Antawn Jamison finished with 34 points and 18 rebounds, while Caron Butler had 27. Fortunately for the Bulls, the Wizards turned to Randy Foye (10-for-23) with a chance to win at the end of the first overtime and he bricked a 20-footer.</p>
<p class="News"><b>Say goodbye:</b> This was the Bulls' last home game for 18 days. While Disney on Ice takes over the United Center, the Bulls will depart on a seven-game road trip.</p>
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<li><a href="/story/?id=351427">Jamison: Arenas' situation eye-opener<span class="date"> [1/16/10]</span></a></li>
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