Bulls win without Rose, Gasol or Gibson
This day started with Derrick Rose going in for knee surgery and ended with Taj Gibson hopping on one foot into the training room, victimized by a sprained left ankle.
The Bulls were also missing Pau Gasol, who went home early due to an illness. But they found enough healthy players to manufacture a 96-89 victory over Minnesota on Friday at the United Center.
It seemed as though coach Tom Thibodeau dusted off last season's playbook, returning Joakim Noah to the role of playmaking point center. Noah led the Bulls with 8 assists, to go with 12 rebounds and 11 points.
"I don't know what we were doing," Thibodeau joked. "We know we're going to be short-handed, so there's different plays that we go to in those situations. We just started working on those. It's not the plays, it's the players."
The Bulls (37-22) were relatively successful last season playing without Rose for the final 71 games. One ingredient they didn't have, though, was Jimmy Butler serving as a confident, accomplished scorer. Butler produced 28 points and 12 rebounds Friday in 43 minutes of action.
"He did just about everything out there and he guards everyone," Thibodeau said. "Jimmy has a very, very high basketball IQ. He knows the plays as well as anyone on our team, at all the positions."
Besides missing three players, the Bulls also ran into some foul trouble, which forced Thibodeau to play some unusual lineups. Veteran center Nazr Mohammed logged 10 minutes and the Bulls often used Butler, Mike Dunleavy and Tony Snell together.
Dunleavy rose to the occasion by hitting 5 of 8 shots from 3-point range and scoring 21 points, his highest output since Dec. 30.
"It's just getting in the flow of the game," Dunleavy said. "Sometimes you're out there with the big guys and we're running plays to get them the ball. So there's not going to be as many shots available. That's fine with me. I'm here to win. When they need me to knock down shots, I'll do it. There's other nights not so much and that's cool too."
Dunleavy injured his right ankle on Jan. 1 and missed 19 games. Thibodeau said this was the first time since coming back Dunleavy was able to play extended minutes.
Aaron Brooks, starting at point guard for the second straight game, struggled with his shot. He went 2-for-15 from the field, but did hit an important 3-pointer in the fourth quarter.
"I don't think it will happen too much longer," Brooks said of his slump. "As long as defensively we're doing OK, I'm going to make shots eventually."
The Bulls led most of the way, but didn't take the lead for good until the 4:20 mark when Kirk Hinrich's drive gave the home team an 86-85 edge. Two trips later, Dunleavy canned a 3 to make it a 4-point game. Hinrich had another key basket with 1:32 left to make it 91-86.
Kevin Garnett didn't play for Minnesota. Kevin Martin led the Timberwolves with 18 points.
It was an opportune victory for the Bulls, since East rivals Cleveland, Toronto and Washington all lost. The Bulls are now a half-game behind the Raptors for second place in the Eastern Conference.
Get the latest Bulls news via Twitter by following @McGrawDHBulls.