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Bulls' surge scuttles Cavaliers

Jan 16, 2009 - 5:56 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- LeBron James was under the weather and Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls took advantage, making the Cleveland Cavaliers look sick in a 102-93 overtime victory on Thursday.

Rose, who scored 16 points, hit a three-point play to start overtime. Kirk Hinrich then hit a 3-point basket and Luol Deng followed with a pair of baskets from beyond the arc to cap a 16-1 run that bridged the end of regulation and the extra session.

"We felt we worked too hard and had too many good plays to not find a way to win in overtime," Rose said.

James had 28 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists, but was 8-of-28 from the field and committed eight turnovers. At one point, he missed 13 straight shots before hitting a 3-point basket in overtime.

The superstar missed an 18-foot jumper at the end of regulation that would have given the Cavaliers the victory.

"This was my worst game of the season," James said. "Yes, I was sick tonight, when I get sick like that I don't always have the same energy for layups and putbacks. It is tough out there when you can't breathe."

James fed Anderson Varejao with the shot clock winding down for a dunk that opened the Cavaliers' lead to 87-83 with 2:14 left in the fourth quarter. The Bulls took off from there.

After Rose hit a driving layup, James missed a shot and fouled Rose at the other end. The top overall pick in last year's draft missed both foul shots that could have tied the game.

Rose had another chance at the line with 17 seconds left and drilled both to tie the game at 87-87.

"My teammates wanted me to shoot and I was trying to get us to move the ball and trying to get my teammates open for shots," the rookie from Memphis said.

James missed a jumper at the end of regulation that would have given the Cavaliers the victory.

Cavaliers guard Delonte West scored 11 points in the first 10 minutes before crashing to the floor with Rose. West was taken to the locker room and diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture of his right wrist. He also had two stitches to close a cut over his left eye. West watched the second half from the Cavs' bench.

"I guess you can say I was in a state of shock," West said. "I do not know how long I will be out. They have scheduled a MRI for me tomorrow. I will just try to support the young guys from the bench until I get back."

Mo Williams tried to pick up for James and the absence of West, scoring 26 points - including five 3-point baskets. Other than Williams and James, the only Cavalier to reach double figures was West.

"Give Chicago credit. They did a terrific job defensively on us, especially in the second half," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. "I personally take the blame for the loss because we should have been able to send in some plays to spread out the offense. We had no ball movement and no body movement causes poor play."

West's exit left the Cavaliers down three starters as forward Ben Wallace sat out with the flu and center Zydrunas Ilgauskas is sidelined due to a chip fracture in his ankle.

"I think all teams go through this at some time," James said. "I just don't remember any NBA team in history that lost three starters like we did. It is a real challenge."

The Bulls, meanwhile, received strong performances from Deng and Hinrich, both playing their second games after sitting out with injuries. Deng scored 22 points and Hinrich added 12 as Chicago put six players in double figures.

Tyrus Thomas added 15 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots, including a spectacular rejection of a James attempt.

"It was a very competitive game out there," Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said. "But collectively we did a great job on defense. I thought some of our players matured quite a bit tonight. Tyrus, Kirk, Luol all performed admirably on defense. Especially on LeBron."