Esposito: Bulls Meet Challenge In Spurs
CHICAGO (WSCR) -- The Spurs presented a nice pre-All Star Break challenge for Tom Thibodeau's team, as San Antonio entered the game with an NBA best 46-9 record, including an impressive 21-7 mark on the road. Thibodeau didn't even want to talk about the break before the game, saying that his team needed to focus on the Spurs and worry about the time off after the game.
The Bulls did just that, led by the one guy who will be very busy during All Star weekend, Derrick Rose. Number One lit up the Spurs for a career-high 42 points, including the usual highlight reel plays against Spurs PG Tony Parker. Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng played their usual solid supporting roles in the 109-99 victory, which sends the Bulls to the break 22 games over .500 at 38-16.
Rose of course is an All Star and will play on Sunday, additionally he was named to the Skills Challenge on Saturday, along with Chris Paul, John Wall, Stephen Curry, and Russell Westbrook. It figures to be a fun weekend for Rose and he should enjoy it, in what has been a breakout year for him. The United Center faithful left little doubt about how they felt, shouting "MVP" as Rose lit up the Spurs down the stretch. The way that he's playing, that's not as unrealistic as it might have seemed before the season.
