• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Rose, Bulls finish road trip vs. Paul and Hornets

Feb 12, 2011 - 3:43 PM (Sports Network) - Chicago will aim to finish a five-game road trip on a winning note Saturday when the Bulls visit the New Orleans Hornets.

The Central Division-leading Bulls evened their mark at 2-2 on the trek Wednesday in Salt Lake City when Derrick Rose made two key free throws with 13 seconds remaining, and Chicago snuck past the Utah Jazz, 91-86.

Rose ended with 29 points and seven assists for the Bulls, who improved to 2-2 on a five-game road trip.

The story coming into the game, however, was Carlos Boozer's return to Salt Lake City. Boozer, a two-time All-Star with the Jazz, played six seasons in Utah and was the team's leading scorer last season when the club captured the Northwest Division title. The Duke product signed with Chicago in July and has been a key cog in the Bulls' rise to the top in the Central. He had 14 points and six rebounds on Wednesday.

"He's been playing like that the whole season," Boozer said of Rose, who is averaging nearly 28.0 points per game on the road trip. "It's why we keep chanting his name for MVP."

The Hornets, meanwhile, snapped an ugly four-game skid with a big win in Orlando on Friday when David West finished with 17 points and 17 rebounds and Willie Green poured in a season-high 24 points, as New Orleans held on for a 99-93 victory against the Magic.

Six players scored in double digits for the Hornets, who had lost six of their last seven overall. Chris Paul, who was fined $15,000 earlier in the day by the NBA for verbal abuse of a game official after the team's 103-101 overtime setback at New Jersey on Wednesday, finished with 15 points and seven assists.

"We were able to fight and defend the three-point line and make things tough for them," West said.

Rose and Paul, two of the NBA's best point guards, have matched up three times in the past and Paul's Hornets have never gotten the best of Rose's Bulls. In the teams' last meeting, a 108-106 overtime win by Chicago in the Big Easy last season, Rose had 18 points while Paul also netted 18 points and added 12 assists. Overall, Chicago has won four straight over the Hornets.