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Rose paces Bulls over Clippers

Feb 3, 2011 - 6:52 AM Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Derrick Rose poured in 32 points with 11 assists, and the Chicago Bulls ran their winning streak to six games Wednesday with a 106-88 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Luol Deng added 26 points in the victory and Carlos Boozer scored 16 with 10 rebounds.

Coming off a 5-1 homestand, the Bulls never trailed in this one, starting their five-game western road trip on the right foot with a 51-percent shooting performance and lock-down defense in the second half.

Blake Griffin filled the stat sheet again for the Clippers, scoring 32 points and pulling down 13 rebounds. But he was just 4-of-13 from the foul line and scored only seven of his points after halftime.

"In the first half, Griffin had his way. In the second half, our defense was much better. We didn't make any adjustments, we just did things better," Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau said.

The Clippers had a two-game win streak snapped, falling to 2-1 on a brief homestand -- and it'll be a while until they see the inside of Staples Center again.

They will play their next 10 games on the road, beginning with Friday's tilt in Atlanta, and won't return to Staples Center until a February 25 meeting with the Lakers -- where the Clippers will be the away team.

Ryan Gomes added 16 points in Wednesday's loss, Randy Foye scored 14 and Baron Davis had 10.

The Clippers never had a lead, but they were down just 82-71 entering the fourth quarter -- a manageable deficit, particularly with the NBA's leading Rookie of the Year candidate on their side.

But Griffin was on the bench to start the fourth, and LA missed its first three shots as it watched the Bulls pull away.

Rose hit two free throws, C.J. Watson buried a three and Deng scored on a layup to give Chicago an 18-point advantage with 9:39 to go. The closest LA got after that was 13 points several times, the last coming when reserve Eric Bledsoe hit a jumper inside three minutes.

"We never got into any synch," said Clippers head coach Vinny Del Negro. "We have to do a better job of grinding it out. We never got enough momentum offensively."

The Bulls will also visit Golden State, Portland, Utah and New Orleans on a road trip that ends February 12. While most of their production came from starters Rose, Deng and Boozer, they also got nine points apiece from bench players Taj Gibson and Watson and eight from fellow reserve Kyle Korver.

"Overall, a good team win," said Thibodeau.

Rose and Griffin both scored 13 in the first quarter and the Bulls carried a 28-23 lead into the second. They took a 55-49 advantage into halftime despite Griffin's 11-of-18 performance in the first 24 minutes.

Game Notes

The Bulls haven't lost since January 18 against Charlotte -- the only setback in a 5-1 homestand that included wins over Dallas, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Orlando and Indiana...Chicago's season-high winning streak is seven games from December 4-15...The Bulls moved to 24-6 in their last 30 games and 32-6 when holding opponents under 100 points...LA had a three-game series winning streak snapped.