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Bulls bury Jazz with barrage of 3s

Rose hits 5 in first quarter; team sets record for single game

If this is how Derrick Rose responds to a championship atmosphere, the Bulls might be playing for a long time this spring.

With the 1991 champions watching from a luxury suite, Rose drained 5 of 6 shots from 3-point range in the first quarter. The Bulls exploded to a 27-point halftime lead and hung on to beat Utah 118-110 on Saturday at the United Center.

Rose didn't speak to reporters after the game, but his early marksmanship inspired the Bulls to set a franchise record by knocking down 18 of 32 from 3-point range. The previous mark was 15 against Miami on Dec. 30, 1994.

“(The record) is cool, but we were hot tonight,” said guard C.J. Watson. “D-Rose started off great. Once we saw they were giving him the open 3, I think everyone else's eyes opened. They gave Kyle (Korver) some wide-open looks. He usually doesn't get those. I got some looks.”

By the end of the night, Rose was 5-for-11 from long range. Watson went 4-for-5, Korver 3-for-3, Luol Deng 3-for-6 and Keith Bogans 3-for-7.

“The more guys you have hitting shots, the more space there is to operate and the more open you're going to be,” Korver said. “It was just one of those things tonight. It was a fun first half.”

The Bulls drained 13 of 20 shots from long range in the first half. According to the NBA Guide, it was 1 short of the record for 3-pointers in a half, set by Milwaukee in 2006. The mark for 3-pointers in a game is 23 by Orlando in 2009.

Rose and Deng finished with 26 points each. Korver scored 17, while Watson and Joakim Noah added 16. Most every Bulls player talked about being inspired by Saturday's atmosphere, with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and the rest of the '91 champs in the house.

“We all get really pumped up to play in here,” Noah said. “We were talking about it with Omer (Asik) on the bench, this is probably one of the best basketball atmospheres in the world. It's a privilege to play here and not everybody gets a chance to play in a building like that on a nightly basis.”

The Bulls (47-18) won their 11th straight game at the United Center and continued to press Boston (46-17) for first place in the Eastern Conference. The teams are in a virtual tie, though the Celtics have 1 fewer loss.

After opening a 68-41 advantage at halftime, the Bulls allowed Utah (34-33) to score 59 points in the second half and get as close as 13. Naturally, coach Tom Thibodeau wasn't happy, calling the 3-point barrage “fool's gold.”

“I was concerned at halftime,” he said. “We were taking a lot of 3s. I think we were 13-for-20 in the first half and we started with a 3 right away instead of re-establishing inside-out.

“The defense in the second half was poor, to be honest. The first half, though, we did a lot of great things to build that lead.”

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JOE LEWNARD/jlewnard@dailyherald.comJoakim Noah drives to the basket during Saturday's game against the Utah Jazz.