Bulls vs. Bucks: Derrick Rose Hits Game-Winner to Lift Chicago over Milwaukee

Derrick Rose is rapidly working his way into the conversation of the best closers in the league.

Rose sank the game-winning shot with no time left on the clock to lift the Chicago Bulls over the Milwaukee Bucks in a thrilling, down-to-the-wire game tonight. 

The Bulls led for most of the game, but the Bucks refused to let them run away with the lead. Every time Chicago would take a lead that might give it even a little bit of breathing room, the hard-fighting Bucks would close the gap. 

With 46 seconds left, Beno Udrih made a layup to tie the game. Then, Derrick Rose came back and, after being fouled by Brandon Jennings, sank a pair of free throws with 32 seconds left. 

The Bucks then came back and Jennings missed a shot, but Ersan Ilyasova got the offensive rebound and put the ball back in to tie the game at 104. 

Chicago came back down and called a timeout. After the timeout, the Bulls got the ball to Rose and spread the court. Guarding Rose one-on-one, Jennings was helpless when Rose shot a huge step-back jumper from 20 feet that hit the bottom of the net precisely as the backboard lit up.

It was the end of a largely successful night for Rose, who scored his 30th point on the shot to go with 11 assists and eight rebounds. 

Joakim Noah had a big night as well. He recorded another double-double, scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 boards. 

Taj Gibson was also huge tonight. He had 10 points and seven boards, along with two blocks. 

Defensively, it was a horrible game for the Bulls,—especially in the frontcourt—as they were absolutely off on their defensive rotations. They gave up 27 points to Drew Gooden, and Ilyasova racked up a career-high 32.

A lot of that was on Carlos Boozer, but not all of it; Noah and Gibson missed some assignments, too.

However, this is the type of game that is going to have a sizable portion of Bulls Nation calling for Boozer's head. He disappeared for portions of the game, he played horrible defense, he made stupid turnovers, he failed to score in the fourth quarter—he was just horrible. 

There's no doubt that whatever voice was left after the game was used to chew out the Bulls for their defense tonight, and I imagine some of that tirade will be directed at Boozer. 

It's possible the Bulls—who will be hosting Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic at the United Center tomorrow night—looked past the Bucks, a team they have now beaten eight straight times. 

Whatever it was, they are going to need to guard the paint better than they did tonight with Howard coming to town tomorrow. 

For now, though, just enjoy the clutchness that is Derrick Rose.