• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Wallace dominates boards; Bulls hold off Bucks

Dec 16, 2006 - 5:54 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Chicago Bulls center Ben Wallace had his season high in rebounds two days earlier, but against the Milwaukee Bucks he upped the ante.

Kirk Hinrich scored 21 points and Wallace came within one rebound of his career high as the Bulls posted a 117-111 victory over the Bucks.

Chris Duhon scored 19 points - all after halftime - and Ben Gordon added 18, including 12-of-12 from the free-throw line, for Chicago, which has won three straight and 11 of its last 12 games.

Wallace had a huge all-around effort, grabbing 27 boards and scoring 10 points to go with a season-high six assists, three steals and three blocks.

"I knew I had a lot of them (rebounds) and some of the guys were even shouting out the numbers as I hit certain levels," Wallace said. "It was a good game for us."

"He's unbelievable, I would like to have him on my team any day," Bucks forward Ruben Patterson said. "Wallace is always out there playing hard."

It was the second straight game the four-time Defensive Player of the Year has dominated the glass. On Wednesday, against Seattle, Wallace hauled in 20 rebounds and added a season-high 15 points for the Bulls, who are 11-3 against the Eastern Conference, including 9-0 at home.

"We had a handful of unsung performances from guys off the bench but Ben Wallace was as good tonight as I have ever seem him," Bulls coach Scott Skiles said. "That was an All-Star performance from Ben."

"Chicago is coming together with Wallace," Bucks coach Terry Stotts said. "Gordon off the bench scoring points and Andre Nocioni is spreading the floor with Wallace having an impact for 48 minutes."

Rookie Tyrus Thomas added 14 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks for Chicago, which outrebounded Milwaukee, 59-43.

"Thomas had a lot of energy out there tonight, he did a nice job for us," Skiles said. "This was a nice opportunity for him to play and he played well."

The Bulls also converted 35-of-41 free throws vs. 16-of-34 for the Bucks, who have lost three straight and 10 of their last 12 in the United Center.

"We did very well at the line tonight, that was pretty much the game," Duhon said. "They missed a lot of them and we made ours."

"The free-throw line was disappointing," Stotts said. "To say it had an impact on the game is a major understatement. Chicago's athletic rebounders were all over the boards."

Michael Redd scored 32 points - his third straight game of 30 or more against the Bulls - and Patterson had 21 points and 13 rebounds for Milwaukee, which shot 48 percent (43-of-89) from the field.

"Unfortunately we came up with a loss tonight," Redd said. "Give Chicago credit, they made plays and they made their free throws and we didn't. Wallace played tremendous basketball. He was an animal on the boards and he was dominant."