By Teddy Greenstein The Bulls passed the equivalent of an advanced calculus exam Friday in beating the defending NBA champion Lakers.
A different kind of test confronted them Saturday night in the form of the Minnesota Timberwolves, a team with talent but only one victory in its first 12 road games.
"This game," Derrick Rose said an hour before tip-off, "will definitely show how mature we are."
Based on that criterion, the Bulls do not need a team curfew.
They started strong Saturday and finished even stronger, hammering Minnesota 113-82 at the United Center for their season-high fifth consecutive victory -- and most lopsided win of the season.
Photo: Taj Gibson drives around Minnesota's Kevin Love. (Dennis Wierzbicki / US PRESSWIRE)
Derrick Rose broke new ground in his burgeoning career by draining a career-high five 3-pointers. And he needed only six attempts to get it done.
His fifth came after a quintessential hustle play by Joakim Noah, who outdueled Luke Ridnour for a loose ball and then fed Rose for an open 25-footer that gave the Bulls an 84-61 lead.
The Bulls' other starters also contributed.
Luol Deng scored 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting despite not sleeping well Friday night.
An elbow from Kobe Bryant on a spin move left Deng with "throbbing" pain and a cracked wisdom tooth that will be fully removed once the Bulls get an extended stretch of days off. The incident also left him with a personal foul.
"I guess I hit his elbow with my chin," he said.
Keith Bogans played an invisible eight minutes in the first half Saturday but came through with a big 3-pointer midway through the third quarter. After the Bulls' 21-point halftime lead got cut to 14, Bogans drilled a 3-pointer to spark an 8-0 run.
The young Timberwolves looked lethargic at points Saturday, not unexpected for a young team playing on back-to-back nights.
Top scorer Michael Beasley hit his first two shots but then misfired on six of his next eight. For stretches, Darko Milicic played as if he had glue on the bottom of his shoes.
Kevin Love was the team's only consistent force, finishing with 23 points and 15 boards.
Source: http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/12/bulls-game-day-rose-co-lead-27-18-after-one.html
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