Friday, December 06, 2013
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Rose-less Bulls trounce Wade-less Heat

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[December 06, 2013]  CHICAGO — No matter the circumstances, the Chicago Bulls tend to rise to the occasion in the regular season against the Miami Heat.

Guard Derrick Rose is sidelined following knee surgery, but the Bulls now own four wins over the Heat without Rose during the past three seasons. Forward Carlos Boozer scored 27 points Thursday as Chicago rolled to a 107-87 victory over Miami at the United Center.

"It's not hard to get up. They're our rivals," Bulls forward Taj Gibson said. "They don't like us. We don't like them. We're not going to lay down for anybody. That's the makeup of our team."

Miami was missing guard Dwyane Wade (illness) and forward Chris Andersen (personal reasons). The Bulls are playing without their starting backcourt of Rose and Jimmy Butler (turf toe).

Chicago (8-9) knocked down its first six shots from 3-point range and dominated the glass. The Bulls outrebounded the Heat 49-27 and posted 24 second-chance points to Miami's six.

"It never let up tonight. They pounded us the entire night," Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We were just not able to overcome their physicality."

Forward LeBron James led Miami with 21 points, while forward Michael Beasley added 15 off the bench.


The Heat's leading rebounder was Beasley with seven. Miami cut into the rebounding deficit in the fourth quarter. At the end of three, the Bulls had a 40-14 edge on the glass.

"We have never been a great rebounding team," James said. "We just have to go out there and get them. It is a group thing for our team. We don't have a (Kevin) Love, (Joakim) Noah or (Dwight) Howard who is going to go out and get 15 for you."

Forward Luol Deng finished with 20 points for the Bulls. Gibson added 19 points, and Noah, Chicago's center, piled up 17 points and 15 rebounds.

Noah talked about using multiple sources of inspiration to get himself ready for the game.

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"I wanted to win for Derrick Rose," Noah said. "I think the people in the city, there's something about when Miami comes to town. They wake up in the morning and just feel it. The people in the city, they don't like the Miami Heat. We don't like the Miami Heat."

The Bulls led by as many as 25 points, but Miami (14-5) cut the margin to 93-81 midway through the fourth quarter. Then, with James waiting to check in, Deng drained a 3-pointer just before the shot clock expired to put Chicago comfortably ahead 98-81 with 3:56 remaining.

Early in the third quarter, there was a brief scuffle between Chicago guard Kirk Hinrich and Miami guard Norris Cole. Hinrich was given a technical foul and Cole a grade-one flagrant foul.

Before the game, James said he was watching the Bulls' game against the Portland Trail Blazers on television and saw the play when Rose was injured.

"I didn't want to believe it," James said. "When I saw them working on him on the sideline, on the bench, he didn't look well. I was hoping for the best for him, and obviously, the news wasn't the best. No doubt (Rose can come back). He's very young and very determined."

NOTES: Miami G Dwyane Wade missed back-to-back games. On Tuesday against the Detroit Pistons, the reason given was general soreness. In Chicago on Thursday, it was illness. "Really feeling under the weather. It hit him hard this morning," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. ... Spoelstra said he expects F Chris Andersen to join the team in Minnesota on Friday after missing the Chicago game due to personal reasons. ... Injured Bulls G Derrick Rose was declared out for the season after surgery to repair cartilage damage in his right knee. However, Rose met the media Thursday for the first time since the surgery and didn't rule out a return later this season. "If I'm healthy and my meniscus is fully healed, of course I'll be out there playing," he said. ... Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau said of Rose's potential return: "We can't worry about whether he may come back or not. Right now, it's been determined that he's out for the season, so that's the way we're going to approach it. If something changes later on, then we'll adjust then."

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