Westerlund: 5 Thoughts After Bulls-Clippers

By Cody Westerlund--

(CBS) The Bulls survived for an 83-80 victory against the Clippers on Thursday night at the United Center, needing every last bit of Los Angeles' 34.1 percent shooting and the ejection of star Blake Griffin to move to 12-8 on the season.

Here are the notes and observations of the night.

1. After donning a mask for the first 17 1/2 games that he played in this season following Sept. 30 surgery to repair a fractured left orbital, Bulls point guard Derrick Rose took the court to start the second half without the protective gear.

To that point, Rose had attempted 265 shots this season and made just 94, a clip of about 35 percent. So one figured the switch might be a nod toward being more comfortable on the court, right?

Nope. Rose simply forgot the mask in the locker room, then didn't feel any urgency to put it back on once it was retrieved.

"It was my decision," Rose said. "I went out there, play started. I forgot to put it on and I said, 'You know what? I'm just going to leave it on the side.' And it ended up working out for me."

Rose didn't take any contact to his face, he said. After shooting 0-of-3 in the first half and going scoreless, he shot 5-of-8 in the final 24 minutes and had 11 points, including nine in the decisive fourth quarter.

Rose refused to credit any improved second-half play to losing the mask, and he hasn't yet decided whether he'll wear the mask Saturday when the Bulls host the Pelicans. He added his vision is still blurry but declined to put a percentage on how good or bad it is.

2. After pathetic fourth-quarter play in the past few games, Hoiberg changed his rotation up Thursday.

Rose played the entire fourth quarter, while fellow point guard Aaron Brooks logged 11:54. Joining them in the closing unit was Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson and Pau Gasol, the first time the Bulls had used that quintet down the stretch this season.

Rose typically has returned to games with seven or eight minutes left. On Thursday, he took longer breaks in the second and third quarters, when he logged a combined 8:29 in that stretch.

His absence in the second quarter was due to Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg liking how Kirk Hinrich was playing. Rose's limited third-quarter minutes were because he got "tired," Hoiberg said.

"I was winded," Rose said.

"My legs are there, but it's all about just putting your game back together."

Rose didn't question his limited second-quarter role, saying, "The second group was rolling."

3. Perhaps the most interesting nugget to come out of a Thursday that featured an ugly basketball game came earlier in the day.

A day after Chicago lost its third consecutive game, Hoiberg had a meeting with the struggling Rose, the tone-setter for a Bulls offense that's among the bottom five in the league. During the conversation, Hoiberg gave Rose a goal: get the ball pushed to half-court by the 21-second mark on the shot clock.

"Me pushing the ball, hopefully my teammates will run with me," Rose said. "He just wants me to push the pace, and guys will work their way into playing that way.

"I feel like I've been pushing, but as far as a team, no. But as far as individually, I think I've been playing with a pretty up-tempo type pace. When pushing, of course teams are going to load to me a little bit more because of the way that I push it. Just got to get everybody to run with me."

The importance of Rose's on-court approach can't be understated for these Bulls. When asked pregame whether he has the players to fit his preferred system, Hoiberg dodged the question.

He instead stressed the importance of pushing the pace. It could be considered an indirect message for Rose, as the two aren't on the same page in how hard to push the ball.

"It's about creating the habits," Hoiberg said. "When we do get out and push the pace, when we get the ball down the floor, we're pretty effective. Again, we have to be consistent with it."

The Bulls entered Thursday ranking seventh in the NBA in pace, but what bugs Hoiberg is that they're lacking the efficiency while pushing. Reflecting who he is, Hoiberg believes playing faster is the path to more efficiency.

"We need to put pressure on the rim," Hoiberg said. "We need to run to the rim better in transition. We got to the corners. We got to fly down the floor. And again, that's been inconsistent this year."

4. After recently instructing his squad not to foul when leading by three points with about 10 seconds left in an eventual 92-89 win against the Spurs on Nov. 30, Hoiberg took the opposite approach Thursday.

He told the Bulls to foul when leading 83-80 with 6.4 seconds left. The result ended up the same, though.

The Clippers got the ball to savvy point guard Chris Paul, with Rose guarding him. Though he had instructions to foul – and appeared close enough initially to do so, with Paul moving away from the hoop – Rose chose not to, for he thought Paul was baiting him into a foul.

"It was him who made it kind of weird, because he was looking to get fouled," Rose said, referencing Paul's 3-pointer that drew back iron for the tie. "I'm used to seeing like games he played in where he'd normally get that call if you reached in or we tried to foul him way in the backcourt, he could launch it from anywhere, and then they'll give him three shots. I was just trying to avoid fouling."

Added Hoiberg: "We said if you feel they're going into a shooting motion, be careful. And Derrick thought, I guess, that he was going into a shooting motion."

5. Since the start of the 2014-'15 season, there's been the perception that the Bulls play better in big games while playing down to their competition in lower-profile contests.

This fact will back that theory up: The Bulls have now won 12 consecutive regular-season home games that have been one of TNT's showcase games on a Thursday night. Their last loss in such a contest came on Feb. 21, 2013, when the Bulls fell to the eventual champion Miami Heat. Not coincidentally, Chicago only scored 67 points that night.

Overall (including home and road), the Bulls have won 14 of their past 15 regular-season games in the Thursday night spotlight of TNT, including two this season. Many of those games have come against top-flight competition, obviously.

Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for CBSChicago.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.