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Rose returns, but Bulls fall to Magic

Apr 9, 2015 - 3:17 AM Orlando, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Derrick Rose returned to the Bulls after missing 20 games with a knee injury, but watched from the bench as his teammates squandered a fourth-quarter lead to the Orlando Magic.

A minutes restriction meant Rose sat for the entire fourth quarter as the Magic came back for a 105-103 win over Chicago on Wednesday.

Rose scored nine points in 19 minutes and handed out two assists, but Chicago's third loss in four games dropped it into a tie for third place in the Eastern Conference with Toronto, who beat Charlotte Wednesday.

"I felt good," said Rose. "I didn't feel any discomfort at all."

Jimmy Butler paced the Bulls with 19 points, and four others finished with a least 13, including Pau Gasol, Nikola Mirotic and Taj Gibson with 15.

The Magic won a third straight game thanks to Victor Oladipo's 23 points, including the go-ahead layup with less than two seconds left in the game. Nikola Vucevic added 22 points and Elfrid Payton contributed 17 points, nine assists and nine rebounds.

"It's been a tough year, but at the end of the day, we're making progress," said Oladipo.

Chicago led by eight entering the final quarter, but its offense could not get on track. Through the first half of the period, the Bulls were just 2-of-8 from the field and committed four turnovers.

With 2 1/2 minutes to play, Evan Fournier's layup evened the score, but Mirotic's 3 at the other end returned the lead to the Bulls. After an Oladipo layup, Orlando went ahead on an Oladipo 3 from the corner.

Gasol tied the game with a layup, but he could not convert the three-point play and give Chicago the lead. The Bulls would not lead again.

After Aaron Gordon's pull-up shot put Orlando up 103-101, Gasol hit a pair of free throws with six seconds left. At the other end, Oladipo drove past Butler and finished with an acrobatic layup to give Orlando the lead with 1.5 seconds remaining.

After a Bulls timeout, Mike Dunleavy tried inbounding the ball to Gasol underneath the rim, but his pass went out of bounds. Chicago would not get another chance.

Chicago was up 29-21 after the first quarter and led by as many as 15 in the second, but an 8-0 Orlando run late in the half cut the Bulls' advantage to 59-52 at the break.

A 6-0 third quarter spurt by the Magic gave them a 68-67 lead, their first since the opening quarter. The Bulls led 87-79 entering the fourth after closing the quarter with an 8-0 run, capped by Aaron Brooks' layup in the final seconds.

Game Notes

Orlando broke an eight-game home losing streak to Chicago ... Oladipo finished with five assists, five rebounds and three steals ... Kirk Hinrich also returned to the Bulls from a knee injury and finished with five points in 15 minutes ... Chicago's Joakim Noah had four points and 11 rebounds.