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Rose scores 31, Bulls beat T-Wolves

Jan 11, 2012 - 4:42 AM Minneapolis, MN (Sports Network) - Derrick Rose scored a game-high 31 points and dished out 11 assists Tuesday as the Chicago Bulls held off the Minnesota Timberwolves, 111-100, at Target Center.

Luol Deng netted 21 points and ripped down 11 rebounds, while Ronnie Brewer finished with 17 points for Chicago, which improved to 9-2 on the season. Kyle Korver was a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc on his way to 13 points off the bench.

"I liked that we got the win," Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau said. "But I didn't think we played tough with the lead, so I didn't like our defense. I liked the resolve to hang tough and pull it out in the end."

Luke Ridnour led the Timberwolves with 22 points while Kevin Love had 20 points and 13 rebounds for his 10th straight double-double to begin the season for Minnesota, which has lost four of its last five and dropped to 3-7. Ricky Rubio has 13 points and 12 assists, and J.J. Barea added 10 points in defeat.

Minnesota kept it close early, trailing 13-11 with 6:17 to play in the opening quarter, but then the Bulls ripped off 16 straight points to take a comfortable 29-11 advantage.

A pair of free throws by Barea finally snapped the run, but the Bulls held a 33-17 edge after the first quarter.

A pair of free throws by Brewer gave the Bulls their largest lead of the night, 51-27, with 5:21 to play before the break, but then Minnesota began a furious comeback effort, using a 20-2 run to close the half, cutting the deficit to 53-47 at the break.

After going scoreless in the first quarter, Love netted 13 points in the second frame to go with eight boards.

Chicago opened the third quarter with the first four points to push the lead to 10, but the T'Wolves answered with a 13-4 push to make it 61-60 in favor of Chicago with 6:36 left in the third frame.

A trey by Ridnour tied the game at 70 with 3:46 to go in the third quarter, but the Bulls scored six straight points to push their lead back to 76-70 with 1:54 to go, and led 79-74 at the end of three quarters of play.

Barea opened the final quarter with a layup to cut the lead to three, but the Bulls responded with seven straight points to increase the lead to 10 two minutes in.

Minnesota cut the deficit to six with 1:33 to play, but Rose answered with a three-pointer to put the Bulls up 109-100 with 1:11 to go and they held on for the win.

"We could have won the game," Love said. "But they had guys that hit big shots down the stretch."

Game Notes

Chicago leads the all-time series between the teams, 26-17, and has won nine of the last 15 meetings...T'Wolves forward Michael Beasley did not play due to a right midfoot sprain...Rose scored 16 first-half points...Bulls guard Richard Hamilton did not play...Bulls forward Carlos Boozer contributed seven points and six rebounds...Minnesota hasn't defeated Chicago since a 109-108 overtime victory on January 25, 2009...Chicago shot 53 percent from the floor, and 11-of-20 from three-point range, while Minnesota shot 42 percent from the field and 8-of-22 from beyond the arc.