Times wires
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
CHICAGO — Derrick Rose scored 23 in the Bulls' seventh straight win, a 98-79 victory over the Wizards on Tuesday night that moved them into sole possession of first place in the East.
Luol Deng added 20 points and Keith Bogans scored 17 for the Bulls, who moved a half-game ahead of the Celtics.
"What's happening right now is everyone is talking about us," Deng said. "Human nature is that it's easy for us to fall into that trap of thinking we're going to walk out there and win. That's not the case. We have a lot of work to do."
Wizards center JaVale McGee had a rare triple double with 11 points, 12 rebounds and 12 blocks, the most since Toronto's Keon Clark had 12 blocks March 23, 2001.
"It was working for me (Tuesday night)," McGee said. "I was blocking so good in the first half people were starting to hesitate and were more afraid to go up, and it was easier to block shots."
McGee hit his triple double with a dunk with 18 seconds left, after which he received a technical foul for hanging on the rim.
"That was the hardest one point I ever tried to make in my life," McGee said. "It was crazy, but I got it. It was a dunk of relief."
Rookie Jordan Crawford scored 27 for the Wizards, who have lost five straight and fell to 1-30 on the road.
The Bulls have won 10 of their past 11 and are 30-4 at home. Only the Spurs (31-3) have done better on a homecourt.
"We feed off the fans," Rose said. "If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be playing the way we're playing."
Ref sues AP, writer over tweet: Veteran referee William Spooner filed a federal lawsuit against the Associated Press and writer Jon Krawczynski over a Twitter message suggesting he made a bad call against the Rockets to make up for a bad call against the Timberwolves on Jan. 24. The tweet: "Ref Bill Spooner told (Wolves coach Kurt) Rambis he'd 'get it back' after a bad call. Then he made an even worse call on Rockets. That's NBA officiating folks." Spooner's attorney was advised that the league doesn't think suing a journalist for posting a tweet it deemed incorrect will be productive.
Game highlights: Danny Granger's 17-foot fadeaway with 0.3 seconds left gave the host Pacers a 119-117 win over the Knicks. … Joe Johnson scored 36 for the host Hawks, who romped to a 110-85 win over the Bucks.
Pacers 119, Knicks 117
NEW YORK (117): Anthony 10-20 6-7 29, Sha.Williams 4-7 0-0 10, Stoudemire 7-17 7-9 21, Billups 5-11 4-4 14, Fields 5-10 4-6 17, Jeffries 2-5 0-1 4, Douglas 5-11 3-3 17, Mason 1-4 0-0 3, Turiaf 1-3 0-0 2, Walker 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 40-89 24-30 117.
INDIANA (119): Granger 10-20 4-5 26, Hansbrough 12-17 6-8 30, Hibbert 5-13 5-6 15, Collison 9-13 5-5 24, George 2-5 1-2 5, D.Jones 3-8 0-0 7, Foster 1-1 1-2 3, Rush 0-3 0-0 0, Price 2-5 0-0 4, McRoberts 2-3 1-2 5. Totals 46-88 23-30 119.
New York 27 27 28 35— 117
Indiana 29 28 30 32— 119
3-Point Goals—New York 13-27 (Douglas 4-6, Anthony 3-5, Fields 3-5, Sha.Williams 2-3, Mason 1-2, Walker 0-1, Jeffries 0-1, Billups 0-4), Indiana 4-11 (Granger 2-5, Collison 1-1, D.Jones 1-2, George 0-1, Rush 0-1, Price 0-1). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—New York 48 (Stoudemire 10), Indiana 56 (Hibbert 12). Assists—New York 21 (Billups, Fields 5), Indiana 26 (Collison 9). Total Fouls—New York 24, Indiana 19. Technicals—Foster. A—14,164 (18,165).
Hawks 110, Bucks 85
MILWAUKEE (85): Delfino 6-10 0-0 13, Mbah a Moute 1-6 0-0 2, Bogut 10-17 1-1 21, Jennings 1-8 2-2 4, Salmons 4-10 2-3 10, Boykins 1-4 0-0 2, Dooling 1-4 0-1 3, Sanders 1-5 3-4 5, Maggette 4-6 2-2 11, Douglas-Roberts 1-4 0-0 2, Barron 4-10 0-0 8, Brockman 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 36-86 10-13 85.
ATLANTA (110): Johnson 13-19 4-4 36, Smith 8-12 1-1 17, Horford 7-12 1-2 15, Teague 2-9 0-0 6, Hinrich 3-3 0-0 6, Crawford 1-4 1-1 4, Pachulia 0-0 0-0 0, Williams 7-9 0-0 16, Collins 0-0 0-0 0, Wilkins 3-3 0-0 6, Powell 0-0 0-0 0, Armstrong 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 46-73 7-8 110.
Milwaukee 17 22 16 30— 85
Atlanta 28 27 29 26— 110
3-Point Goals—Milwaukee 3-10 (Maggette 1-1, Dooling 1-2, Delfino 1-4, Jennings 0-1, Salmons 0-2), Atlanta 11-19 (Johnson 6-9, Teague 2-2, Williams 2-2, Crawford 1-4, Smith 0-2). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Milwaukee 37 (Bogut 13), Atlanta 44 (Smith 14). Assists—Milwaukee 22 (Salmons, Barron 4), Atlanta 31 (Crawford 8). Total Fouls—Milwaukee 14, Atlanta 17. Technicals—Salmons, Pachulia. A—13,590 (18,729).
Bulls 98, Wizards 79
WASHINGTON (79): Yi 5-9 4-7 14, Booker 1-2 0-0 2, McGee 5-14 1-3 11, Wall 7-14 2-3 17, Crawford 10-21 4-6 27, Seraphin 0-0 2-2 2, Evans 2-9 0-0 4, Shakur 0-2 0-0 0, N'diaye 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 31-72 13-21 79.
CHICAGO (98): Deng 8-19 2-5 20, Gibson 4-11 1-2 9, Thomas 3-10 1-2 8, Rose 8-21 5-5 23, Bogans 5-10 2-2 17, Brewer 4-5 1-2 9, Scalabrine 0-2 0-0 0, Korver 3-7 1-1 8, Asik 0-2 1-4 1, Watson 1-3 0-0 3, Butler 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 36-90 14-23 98.
Washington 19 27 14 19— 79
Chicago 31 19 25 23— 98
3-Point Goals—Washington 4-13 (Crawford 3-7, Wall 1-1, Shakur 0-1, Evans 0-4), Chicago 12-32 (Bogans 5-10, Deng 2-6, Rose 2-7, Thomas 1-1, Watson 1-2, Korver 1-3, Brewer 0-1, Scalabrine 0-2). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Washington 48 (McGee 12), Chicago 64 (Thomas 15). Assists—Washington 14 (Wall 7), Chicago 24 (Rose 7). Total Fouls—Washington 17, Chicago 16. Technicals—Yi, McGee, Bogans. A—22,103 (20,917).