The Chicago Bulls dominated the second half and ran off to a 97-81 victory over the Boston Celtics Thursday at the United Center. Derrick Rose finished with 30 points and eight assists for the Bulls, while Luol Deng added 23 points and Carlos Boozer had 14 points and 12 rebounds. Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen combined for just 32 points on 12 of 33 shooting against the league's top defense.
The victory raised the Bulls to a 58-20 record, four games better than the 54-24 Celtics with four games remaining.
In the other game of the night, Portland handed the Jazz their fifth consecutive home loss 98-87 and is closing in on a playoff spot in the west. Gerald Wallace was on fire with 29 points and Nikola Batum helped the cause as well with 21 of his own.