Rose hands out 9 assists in rout of Washington
Derrick Rose needed barely a step to go from zero to blazing. The Wizards, meanwhile, struggled to find any gear whatsoever.
Seemingly in cruise control for much of the first half Monday at Verizon Center, Rose intercepted an errant pass in the third quarter and made like a missile toward the basket, where he executed a patented double-clutch reverse layup. The Bulls (41-17) already had been in control, but Rose showed just how fast his surging club could turn things into rout and turn the building into their own, sending Washington to its sixth straight defeat, 105-77.
By the time Rose finished scoring 11 of his 21 points in the third quarter — he also had nine assists and five rebounds — “M-V-P!” chants were the most prominent sound among the crowd of 17,873.
“He’s playing like an MVP-type player this year, and I told him that before the game,” said John Wall, who had nine points and 10 assists.
| Wizards notes |
| » The Wizards waived Mike Bibby on Monday after agreeing to a buyout with the veteran guard who was acquired in a trade with Atlanta last week. |
| » Bibby, 32, who had one field goal in just two appearances, forfeited his entire $6.2 million salary for the 2011-12 season in order to get the opportunity to leave Washington and join a playoff contender for the remainder of the season. |
| » To replace Bibby, the Wizards re-signed guard Mustafa Shakur, who like Bibby also played college basketball at Arizona. After two previous 10-day contracts, the Wizards were required to give Shakur a contract through the end of the season. |
Despite 15 points and 11 rebounds from Andray Blatche, the Wizards (15-44) were obliterated on the boards 56-39 and in points in the paint 48-22. Joakim Noah had 19 points and 11 rebounds and Carlos Boozer added 12 points and 10 boards. The Chicago bench combined to outrebound the Wizards’ bench 24-8.
“Our adjustment, whether it’s young guys or veterans, is that we right now have problems, and we’ve notoriously had problems when teams get very physical with us,” Wizards coach Flip Saunders said. “This team’s one of the most physical teams in the league, at every position.”
Still, the night promised a duel between Rose and Wall, but it was brief and one-sided. After Kevin Seraphin’s block of Rose in the lane, Wall sped down the court, got Luol Deng (21 points) turned around, drew the foul and completed the three-point play. He was on the break again the next possession, too, after a Kyle Korver turnover, finishing with two more free throws to cut Chicago’s early lead to 19-15.
But Rose had a hand in six of the game’s next eight points, exciting the fans of both teams by dropping a pass backward through his legs for Noah to slam home in transition. The third-year star then fed Deng in the corner for a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give Chicago a 50-37 lead at the break en route to its seventh win in eight games.
