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Rose carries Bulls to OT win over Rockets

Dec 5, 2010 - 6:58 AM Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Derrick Rose tied the game at the end of regulation with a three-pointer and made the go-ahead layup late in overtime, as the Chicago Bulls outlasted the Houston Rockets, 119-116, at United Center.

Rose finished with 30 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds and five steals for the Bulls, who have won five straight against Houston. Carlos Boozer tallied 25 points and nine boards.

Luol Deng donated 15 points for Chicago, which snapped a brief two-game skid. Joakim Noah chipped in with 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Kyle Korver added 13 points for the victors.

"Derrick Rose was terrific," Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau said. "In the first half, he set the tone with his defense. He really competed hard. I liked our defense in the first half. In the second half, our fouling and not enough ball pressure hurt us. In the end we did what we had to do. Our pick and roll defense is something we have to work on and clean up."

Luis Scola ended with 27 points and eight rebounds to pace the Rockets, who saw a two-game winning streak come to an end. Brad Miller had 20 points in a reserve role, while Kyle Lowry tallied 16 points and seven boards in defeat.

A tight fourth quarter came down to foul shots. Boozer got the Bulls within one, 103-102, on a jumper with 2:22 left in regulation.

Miller missed a jumper at the other end but Rose was called for a loose ball foul. Lowry made both shots from the foul line to give Houston a 105-102 lead with 1:57 to go.

With the score the same one minute later, Rose missed a layup. Lowry was able to make his layup at the opposite end to make it a 107-102 contest with 36.5 seconds remaining.

Boozer cut the gap to three with a tip-in. Lowry then made just 1-of-2 from the charity stripe. Boozer came up with a layup next time down the court to make it 108-106 with 14.7 ticks left on the clock.

Miller was fouled and sent to the line with 10.7 seconds to go, but could only convert on one of his shots. Chicago gave the ball to Rose, who rose up and drilled the game-tying three-pointer as time expired.

"It was hard to communicate that to them (to foul Rose)," Rockets head coach Rick Adelman said. "We didn't foul him with seven to 10 seconds to go and it allowed him to pass it and then get the ball back. Give him credit, he made a really tough shot. However, letting them get two offense rebounds and missing a couple of free throws were also a part of it."

With the score 116-116 in overtime, Rose made a driving layup to give the Bulls a two-point edge with 1:17 left.

Following misses from each team, the Rockets got the ball back with 24.9 seconds to go. Miller, who missed a trey on the previous possession, missed from long range again. Scola grabbed the offensive rebound but missed a tip- in.

Ronnie Brewer made 1-of-2 from the line to give Chicago a 119-116 margin with 4.5 seconds to go. Taj Gibson blocked Miller's three-pointer as time expired.

The Bulls held a 25-23 lead after 12 minutes of action, and outscored Houston by a 31-21 margin in the second quarter to take a 56-44 margin into the locker room.

The Rockets used a big third stanza to get back into the game. Trailing by 12, 68-56, with 7:49 left, Houston went on a 15-7 run. Scola capped the drive with a layup to cut the deficit to 75-71 with 3:52 remaining.

Shane Battier and Lowry each made three-pointers at the end of period to make it an 81-79 game heading to the fourth.

Game Notes

The Bulls beat the Rockets, 95-92, on November 16...Chicago shot 50 percent from the floor, while Houston made 44.9 percent of its shots...Rockets guard Courtney Lee left the game for a brief time after colliding with Miller.