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Rose leads Bulls past Pacers

Nov 16, 2008 - 5:13 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Derrick Rose scored 12 of his 23 points in the third quarter as the Chicago Bulls downed the Indiana Pacers, 104-91, on Saturday.

Rose added eight assists and four rebounds. The game marked Rose's 10th straight in double digits to start his career, making him the first Bulls' rookie to achieve that feat since Michael Jordan in 1984-85.

"They were just giving me the shots, so I would be a fool not to take them," Rose said. "My teammates wanted me to shoot it. ... Overall, I have confidence in my shot right now."

The No. 1 overall pick in the draft out of Memphis was boosted by backcourt mate Ben Gordon, who scored 19 points.

"Overall, we had a good offensive showing tonight, everybody is playing together and getting comfortable with our new offense," Gordon said.

The Bulls jumped to a 27-17 lead at the end of the first quarter and kept Indiana at bay. The Pacers had a rough shooting night, hitting only 37 percent (35-of-94) from the field.

"It was another good win for us. It certainly was not pretty at times, we got beat up on the glass but we shared the ball better in the second half," Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said. "Derrick took over the game a little bit tonight, it was a positive fourth quarter for us and overall a good effort."

Andres Nocioni added 20 points off the bench for the Bulls, who won back-to-back games for the first time this season.

"He came off the bench late in the game and helped us take over the game," Gordon said. "Nocioni has a a lot of great energy and he used it to the team's advantage tonight."

The Pacers placed six players in double figures, including their entire starting five. However, they missed numerous opportunities on inside shots and were sloppy with the ball.

"The nine-turnover differential was really the cause of our downfall," Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said. "We didn't really shoot the ball well tonight, we had a lot of good looks, but the ball didn't bounce our way."

The Pacers' frontcourt of Danny Granger, Troy Murphy and Rasho Nesterovic each recorded a double-double. They combined for 39 points and 35 rebounds.

"We played a better game tonight than we did last night," Murphy said about a loss in Philadelphia that saw the Pacers blow a 26-point lead. "We were embarrassed but tonight we were in the game but we didn't make our shots."