Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls Fend Off Cleveland Cavaliers, 113-98

The Chicago Bulls used a dominant second half performance to deal the Cleveland Cavaliers just its second loss in the last 16 games and head into the All-Star break into a high note. No star shone brighter in the battle of Central Division leaders than Derrick Rose who tallied 30 points 4 rebounds and 7 assists.

The former Most Valuable Player led the balanced attack of the Bulls which was missing the services of All0Star shooting guard Jimmy Butler who was out with a shoulder injury. The vintage performance of Rose brought back memories of his MVP season and prompted the crowd to chant the “MVP” chorus in the third period when he showed his familiar quickness to the basket and drew the foul for the cherry on top.

Rose was not named to the big game this weekend and he admitted that he would happy to rest his weary legs. After a tumultuous two years wherein he missed most of the games due to two knee surgeries, the former number 1 pick is just happy to be back. He is relatively spry and health playing in the last 16 games and has averaged more than 30 minutes per outing.

"I'm not going to measure myself off this game. I know I can always do more. I can always improve on certain things,” Rose told ESPN on how he felt after the stellar performance.

The Cavaliers were also missing the services of power forward Kevin Love who had a corneal strain after getting poked in the eye by Miami Heat guard Mario Chalmers the previous night. LeBron James used his usual damage and statistical line of 31 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists but had 8 uncharacteristic turnovers. Kyrie Irving had 17 points and 7 assists but needed 18 shots to accumulate the total baskets. Russian centre Timofey Mozgov continued his steady play after being acquired by Cleveland with another double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds.

The Bulls were just leading by 7 points at the break when it used a third quarter run to pad the lead up with 8 straight points courtesy of Rose and company. The Cavs tried to mount a comeback with James and reserve shooter James Jones but can only muster to get as near as 8 points but the Bulls relied on Rose’s brilliance and were never threatened since.

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