Chicago Bulls Beat Charlotte Bobcats, Boozer Injured, Jordan Endorses Rose
Derrick Rose got another chance to play in front of Charlotte Bobcats owner and former Bulls MVP Michael Jordan again tonight.
It's not that Jordan needed any convincing, but just in case, Rose put on a show for him, leading the Bulls to a 101-84 win.
As the Bulls pulled away in the fourth quarter, Derrick Rose split three Bobcat defenders before he finished with an up-and-under layup that left even Jordan shaking his head in disbelief.
After the game, Jordan told reporters what he thought of Rose:
"MVP of the season. He deserves it. He's playing that well. He deserves it. Without a doubt. And if he doesn't get it, now he'll see how I felt a lot of years."
Rose stifled Bobcat point guard DJ Augustin to six points on seven shots, three of which were blocked by Derrick on the defensive end.
Offensively, he scored 20 points on only 15 shots, dished out six assists, grabbed four rebounds and had the three blocks and two steals to go with it. Rose also hit four of six shots from behind the arc as he continued to improve on his recent three-point shooting woes.
He only played 31 minutes in the game, as he sat out the majority of the fourth quarter.
Kyle Korver chipped in another 20 points in an effective shooting performance of his own, hitting 4-of-7 from behind the arc.
All told, the Bulls bench outscored the Bobcats bench, 55-35.
For Charlotte, it was a tale of two halves, as they made over 60 percent of their shots in the first two quarters, but only finished only .457 from the field on the game as the Bulls defense stepped up and were much more aggressive challenging shots in the second half.
For the Bobcats, the most impressive performance was Gerald Henderson, who scored 20 points and had eight assists to go with it.
The victory was overshadowed though by an injury incurred by Bulls power forward Carlos Boozer. Going up for a dunk with the Bulls up by 17 late in the game, Kwame Brown flagrantly fouled him, sending him sprawling awkwardly to the floor, twisting Boozer's ankle underneath him.
The early reports from the Bulls are that the X-rays were negative and it's just a sprained ankle. There are no reports yet as to how much time Boozer will miss, but he did miss two games earlier this season with a sprained ankle.
In more positive news, the Bulls clinched a playoff spot by beating the Bobcats.
Their magic number to clinch the division is down to one, meaning any Bulls win or Indiana loss will clinch the Central Division for Chicago. The Bulls also received some help from the Clippers, who beat the Boston Celtics tonight, 107-103, moving the Bulls to just 1.5 games behind Boston for the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
