Indianapolis, IN (Sports Network) – Derrick Rose scored a game-high 29 points to go with 10 rebounds and five assists, and the Chicago Bulls snapped a three-game road losing streak with a 99-86 victory over the Indiana Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse.
Luol Deng contributed 17 points and three blocks, while Carlos Boozer added 14 points and six boards for Chicago, which has won five of the last six in this series. Kurt Thomas grabbed a game-high 18 rebounds for the victors.
“I thought we helped each other a great deal tonight,” Boozer said of the team’s defensive effort. “We were talking, making sure everybody was on the same page.”
Danny Granger led the Pacers with 22 points. Mike Dunleavy made 3-of-6 shots from beyond the arc and ended with 13 points, while Tyler Hansbrough supplied 12 points for the Pacers, who had won their last two.
“Just wasn’t a good enough performance for us tonight,” Dunleavy said.
Chicago shot 13-of-26 from the field in the first quarter as they took a 28-24 lead after the opening 12 minutes. The Bulls capitalized on a poor shooting second quarter from the Pacers, 20.8 percent from the field, en route to a 53-41 halftime lead.
Rose came alive in the third quarter, finishing with 12 points and five rebounds, including a four-point play at 6:06 remaining, to widen the Bulls lead to 70-54. Chicago took a 79-63 lead into the final stanza.
The Pacers shot only 6-of-23 from the field in the third quarter but responded with an eight-of-nine effort from the free throw line.
The fourth was all but a formality as Thomas opened the quarter with a mid- range jumper to widen the lead to a game-high 18, and the Chicago advantage never fell below nine down the stretch.
Chicago topped Indiana 92-73 on December 13. However, the Pacers hold a 20-5 lead in the past 25 meetings at Conseco Fieldhouse…Darren Collison added 10 points with five rebounds and five assists for the Pacers…Chicago held a 46-24 advantage in points in the paint.