The Chicago Bulls blew an 11-point fourth quarter lead on Tuesday night against the New Orleans Hornets, but a late jumper and a couple clutch free throws by Derrick Rose lifted Chicago to a 99-95 win. The victory improves Chicago to 28-8 overall and 14-2 at home, while New Orleans falls to 8-26.
The story before the game was the return of shooting guard Rip Hamilton to coach Tom Thibodeau's lineup, but Rose's stellar effort will surely grab headlines tomorrow. Rose ended the game with 32 points and nine assists on 11-of-24 shooting. Fellow starters Joakim Noah (15 points and 16 rebounds), Luol Deng (14 points and 11 rebounds) and Carlos Boozer (14 points) put up nice stat lines but were instrumental in blowing the fourth quarter lead. Hamilton finished with six points in 16 minutes.
Chris Kaman had 17 points to lead New Orleans.
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