Aggressive Rose helps Bulls demolish Spurs
Derrick Rose took out his frustrations against the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night in a 104-81 point victory for the Chicago Bulls.
Following the Bulls' loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday, Rose was vocal in his displeasure with the team's performance, and the former MVP backed up his talk with a dominant 22-point, 5-assist performance in just 27 minutes of play.
The noticeably invigorated point guard attacked the basket relentlessly from the start and was a pest defensively. He finished the first half with a team-high 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting while being checked by one of the league's best perimeter defenders in Spurs small forward Kawhi Leonard. He added four assists and a steal before the half was over.
With Rose powering the offense, the Bulls focused their energy on stopping the Spurs' attack. They took away San Antonio's ability to play cross-court basketball, limiting their attack to only half of the court. Without the ability to drive and attack from the weak side, the Spurs were unable to generate movement on offense.
The end result was an inept performance from the defending champion's offense, which managed just 81 points on 37 percent shooting from the field, including a woeful 6-of-21 on 3-pointers.
The win snapped a rough stretch for the Bulls, who lost six of their previous eight contests before Thursday's win. On Wednesday, they held a team meeting to air their grievances.
Rose led all scorers, while All-Star center Pau Gasol chipped in with 12 points and 17 rebounds. Leonard led the Spurs with 16 points.