CHICAGO — Derrick Rose made it look easy despite a bruised right hip, hitting his first nine shots and scoring 29 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 118-85 victory over the New York Knicks on Tuesday.
Still sore from a hard foul by Orlando's Dwight Howard last week, Rose shook it off with a dominant performance as the Bulls matched their most lopsided win of the season and handed the Knicks their fourth straight loss and 13th in 17 games.
Rose buried all seven shots while scoring 15 in the first quarter and was 14-for-18 in all, just missing his sixth 30-point game.
Luol Deng added 18, Kirk Hinrich scored 14 and Chicago shot a season-high 60.5 percent.
David Lee led New York with 24 points and 12 rebounds, but the Knicks were simply overmatched by Rose and the Bulls.
Both teams could have a different look by the end of the week, with the trade deadline approaching. For the Knicks, that might not be a bad thing, considering they've dropped 13 of 17.
The Bulls weren't exactly lighting it up either, dropping four of six before the All-Star break, but they certainly got the job done this time.
Particularly Rose.
After taking the big hit from Howard, the All-Star guard was the one connecting this time.
He mixed in floaters, drives and jumpers in the early going, yet despite his dominant start, the Bulls were up just 29-28 through the first quarter. They finally started to pull away late in the second, outscoring the Knicks 15-6 over the final four minutes to take a 64-50 lead into halftime.
Miller started that run with a neat drop stop and Rose buried a baseline jumper, making him 9-for-9 and extended the lead to 53-44. He finally missed when he pulled up for a jumper with just over two minutes left, but Hinrich added a 3-pointer. Deng hit a layup and Rose converted one off a neat crossover to make it 60-48 with 40 seconds left, before New York's Jared Jeffries ended the half with two free throws.
Any thoughts of a comeback quickly vanished as Rose led the Bulls on an 8-0 run to start the second half. After Hinrich started it with a pull-up jumper, Rose buried a 21-footer and added a 17-footer after a put-back by Taj Gibson to make it 72-50.
Notes
The teams meet again Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. … The 33-point margin matches the Bulls' 120-87 win over Detroit on Jan. 11. They also shot 57.1 percent in that game, which was their season high. … Chicago's Joakim Noah missed his fifth straight game with plantar fasciitis in his left foot. Although there is some improvement, Noah was sore Tuesday morning and might not make the trip to New York and Minnesota. "We'll see if we're going to take him on the trip," coach Vinny Del Negro said. "If not, we'll keep him here and get some therapy and we'll re-evaluate him on Saturday when we get back."