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Bulls' Rose insists he had nothing to prove

Cleveland's Kyrie Irving is an all-star. Derrick Rose is not.

So it would be easy to think Rose took the court Thursday night at the United Center with something to prove. But Rose said that's not the case, even after he torched the Cavaliers for 30 points and led the Bulls to a relatively easy 113-98 victory.

"I just compete," Rose said. "However the game is going or if I see something is going on, I'm going to go out there and play the way I think I should play. I never go into the matchups thinking I have to do better than this person. It just comes out."

Rose used to be one of the stars of all-star weekend, but after missing nearly two full seasons recovering from a pair of knee injuries, he's headed for a short vacation.

"No I will not miss it," Rose said of all-star weekend. "I will be somewhere with my feet up enjoying it."

This was the NBA's final game before the all-star break and in some ways it's coming at a bad time for the Bulls. They've finally built some positive momentum with a four-game winning streak after struggling for the past month.

"It definitely feels good, just for the morale of this team," Joakim Noah said. "We played pretty well tonight. The ball was really moving. I think it was good for our confidence."

Heading into this game, Cleveland (33-22) had won 14 of its last 15 games, but are now 1½ games behind the Bulls for third place in the East.

LeBron James scored 31 points but didn't make a huge impact on this game. The Bulls (34-20) took a 12-9 lead when Pau Gasol hit a corner 3-pointer at the 7:35 mark of the first quarter and never again trailed.

"We are not chasing them," James said. "We just have to keep on playing well. We're chasing ourselves. We have an opportunity for us to get better every day. As far as chemistry, we have a long way to go."

Neither team was complete Thursday. Bulls all-star Jimmy Butler missed the game with a right shoulder strain, which first occurred Sunday in Orlando. Cleveland's Kevin Love sat due to a corneal abrasion after getting poked in the eye Wednesday against Miami.

Tony Snell had another big game, scoring 22 points and shadowing James all night in place of Butler. In his last two games, Snell has posted the best numbers of his two seasons as a pro. He hit a combined 18 of 22 shots, made 9 of 12 attempts from 3-point range and scored 46 points.

"There's 29 assists, so the playmaking by the whole team was terrific," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "Guys are getting rhythm shots, and they're making quick decisions."

Gasol stretched his double-double streak to 14 games with 18 point and 10 boards. He grabbed the 10th rebound with just more than a minute remaining. Noah finished with 15 rebounds, 10 points and 7 assists.

Irving finished with 17 points, hitting 6 of 18 shots from the field. Rose knocked down 12 of 24 shots to go with 7 assists.

The NBA extended this year's all-star break, so the Bulls will return to practice Wednesday and won't play again until next Friday at Detroit. They'll have 28 games left to secure a favorable playoff seed.

"We'll see what (this win) does," Gasol said. "We play (the Cavs) again on April 5. That will be another test, an important test for us.

"They beat us twice, we beat them once. Let's see if we can beat them twice. I know my schedule and I know my rivals, And I know who we have to be after and watch out for. They're a threat."

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