Bulls get 5th straight win to go over .500 mark

The Bulls brought another strong effort on the road Friday, but needed a couple of breaks to keep their winning streak alive.

A late turnover by New Orleans allowed the Bulls to tie the score with 0.2 seconds left in regulation. At the same time, all-star point guard Chris Paul injured his knee and was ineffective in overtime.

The door was left ajar and the Bulls didn't let the opportunity slip, pulling out a 108-106 overtime victory at New Orleans Arena. They completed the "ice show" road trip with an astonishing five straight wins against Western Conference playoff contenders.

"We're going into games expecting to win," said forward Luol Deng, who led the Bulls with 26 points and hit the game-tying shot in regulation. "A game like that, if we had lost four in a row, we might have lost it. But the mentality right now is we can win every game."

With the victory, the Bulls (23-22) went over the .500 mark for the first time since they were 5-4 on Nov. 17.

Derrick Rose wasn't as sharp as he has been, hitting 7 of 19 shots for 18 points. Joakim Noah pulled down 18 rebounds.

The Bulls went from a 15-point lead with two minutes left in the third quarter to a 97-92 deficit with 2:48 left, but kept their composure.

"We didn't give up," Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said. "We showed some toughness. It's been a long trip. I'm proud of the way the guys battled and they hung in there."

New Orleans (25-21) appeared to have the game in hand after the Bulls missed a pair of shots late in regulation. The Bulls had to foul, weren't yet in the penalty and the Hornets took the ball out of bounds with 8.8 seconds on the clock, leading 102-100.

Hornets forward David West tried to throw a long downcourt pass to Paul, but led him too far. By the time Paul caught up to the ball, all he could do was try to save it off John Salmons' back. Instead, the ball bounced to Kirk Hinrich, who pushed the ball upcourt.

Rose caught a pass under the basket, had his shot blocked by West and Deng was there for a tying tip in with 0.2 seconds left.

Even worse for New Orleans, Paul fell awkwardly into the courtside photographers after trying to save the errant pass and injured his knee. He tried to limp through overtime, but was replaced by rookie Darren Collison after missing badly on a pair of long jumpers.

Paul went to the bench as Rose drilled a pair of free throws to put the Bulls ahead for good at 106-104 with 2:13 left. Brad Miller tacked an 18-foot jumper with 59.8 seconds remaining.

West (29 points) came back to hit a bank shot with 48.1 seconds left. Miller missed a 3-pointer on the other end, but Joakim Noah pulled down the offensive rebound and the Bulls ran the clock below 10 seconds before Rose lost the ball on a drive.

Collison tried to create a tying basket, but he drove into traffic and had the ball knocked away by Deng. Rose picked it up as time expired.

After falling behind 97-92 in the fourth quarter, the Bulls scored 6 straight, taking a 98-97 lead on Noah's tip-in with 1:16 left. On the next possession, West drilled a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to make it 100-98 with 51.5 seconds on the clock.

Miller tied the score with a pair of free throws, before Paul found West for a layup that put the Hornets up 102-100 with 30.8 seconds remaining.