So maybe playing back-to-backs at home is just the thing to get the Bulls rolling on a really long winning streak. Their fifth consecutive win, 113-82 over the woeful Timberwolves, included their biggest margin of victory of the season — 31 points — and five three-pointers from Derrick Rose, who was quoted in the Tribune as saying he hadn’t shot that well from there “since AAU”.
Rose wound up with 21 points and Luol Deng had 19. Deng posted his game with a cracked wisdom tooth he suffered in the game against the Lakers; he quipped that “his elbow hit Kobe Bryant’s chin”. He’ll have the wisdom tooth removed as soon as the Bulls have a few days off in a row.
The Bulls are now 14-8; it’s the first time they have been that far over .500 since the last day of the 2006-07 season, a year they finished 49-33. They’ve come through a tough part of their schedule with a good record — now fifth-best in the Eastern Conference, though they’d rank third in playoff seeding due to leading the Central Division — and now have a chance to run out to a bigger lead over the next few weeks.
They’ll get their shot at that directly on Monday when they take on the Central’s second-place team, the Indiana Pacers, at the United Center.