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Rose leads Bulls over Pistons

Nov 11, 2014 - 4:35 AM Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - Derrick Rose played for the second time in six games since spraining both of his ankles and scored 24 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 102-91 win over the Detroit Pistons on Monday night.

The Bulls held on down the stretch after leading by as many as 19 points in the second quarter and 17 in the third, winning for the fifth time in their six games since Rose was hurt against Cleveland on Oct. 31.

Rose, who sat out the previous two games, set up a key basket when he drew a double team near the paint and threw a no-look pass back to Jimmy Butler for a 3-pointer that gave the Bulls a 95-88 lead with 1:56 remaining.

The former NBA MVP had seven assists in 32 minutes and Butler scored 19 as the Bulls beat the Pistons for the 22nd time in their last 24 meetings. Pau Gasol added 17 points and 15 rebounds and Joakim Noah scored 13 with 14 boards.

It was the first time this season that Chicago had its five starters on the court at the same time.

"It was great to have everyone," said Gasol. "I hope we can keep it that way."

Josh Smith had 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Pistons, who have dropped their last two. Greg Monroe added 16 points and 10 rebounds and D.J. Augustin added 16 points off the bench.

Caron Butler's right-corner 3-pointer got the Pistons within 87-84 with 4:41 remaining and they were as close as two minutes later on Augustin's bucket, but scored just three points over the last 2:43.

Gasol's jumper and Jimmy Butler's 3 gave the Bulls a cushion.

"The second half tonight was a positive for us by and large," said Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy. "But, when you give away the first half and then play better, but still come up short, I can't accept it. You have to play to win."

Earlier, Rose scored eight points in eight minutes in the first quarter and Gasol and Noah combined for 12 points and 10 rebounds.

The Bulls carried a 27-21 lead into the second and used an 11-0 run late in the half to go up 16. Jimmy Butler sparked the burst with a 3 and Gasol scored four, including a jumper that made it 53-37.

Rose had 13 points in the half, shooting 5-for-10 in 15 minutes, and Chicago led 60-44 at the break.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Smith combined to score 17 points in a big third quarter for the Pistons, who shot better than 55 percent in the frame to pull within 78-70 going into the fourth.

Game Notes

Pistons center Andre Drummond's name was misspelled as "Drummund" on the back of his jersey ... Aaron Brooks had 10 points off the bench for the Bulls, who play in Toronto on Thursday ... Brandon Jennings scored 11 for the Pistons, who continue a four-game road trip on Wednesday in Washington. Caldwell-Pope scored all nine of his points in the third quarter.