Bulls Pull Away From Nets For 105-80 Victory

CHICAGO (AP) — Derrick Rose scored 23 points, Pau Gasol had 16 points and 16 rebounds, and the balanced Chicago Bulls beat the Brooklyn Nets 105-80 on Wednesday night.

Chicago had six players score in double figures, including all five starters. Jimmy Butler had 18 points, Mike Dunleavy scored 14, and Taj Gibson finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds and six blocked shots.

Deron Williams led Brooklyn with 17 points, but the Nets dropped their third straight. Kevin Garnett scored 13 points, and Alan Anderson had 12.

Chicago grabbed control with a 17-3 run in the third quarter.

Rose made a 3-pointer, and Gibson had a big dunk before Gasol capped the surge with four straight points, including two foul shots that made it 70-58 with 3:32 to go.

It just got worse for injury-riddled Brooklyn in the final period, with Chicago scoring 15 straight points to increase its advantage to 101-73 with 3:17 to go. Butler finished the run with a jumper.

The Nets played without forward Mirza Teletovic, who was sidelined by a right hip pointer. Joe Johnson (flu) and Brook Lopez (lower back strain) each missed their second straight game, and Andrei Kirilenko was held out because of personal reasons, according to the team.

Joakim Noah, the reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and rookie Doug McDermott missed the game for Chicago. Noah has a sprained right ankle, and McDermott has been hampered by a sore right knee.

Brooklyn led 32-22 early in the second quarter when Dunleavy started to heat up for Chicago. He passed to Gibson for a layup, and then made two straight 3-pointers to trim the Nets' lead to two.

Rose scored nine of his 13 first-half points in the second, and the teams were tied at 51 at the break. Williams scored 10 in the first two periods for the Nets.

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TIP-INS

Nets: Brooklyn dropped to 4-6 on the road. It has lost 10 of its last 12 games at the United Center, counting the postseason. ... The Nets were outrebounded 57-44.

Bulls: Gasol has recorded a double-double in each of his last seven games. He leads the team with 13 double-doubles on the season. ... Chicago has scored at least 100 points in seven straight games for its longest streak since an eight-game run from March 26-April 11, 2009. ... The Bulls improved to 3-5 at home.

UP NEXT

Nets: Host Philadelphia on Friday.

Bulls: Host Portland on Friday.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.