Feb. 09--Derrick Rose saw the future Sunday night, and it wasn't pretty.
Rookie point guard Elfrid Payton of the Magic zoomed past him for a layup. And then another. Payton swiped the ball from Rose, and then scored again as Orlando snatched a 92-91 lead over the visiting Bulls with less than four minutes to play.
"A great young player," Rose said of the 6-foot-4 speedster, who spent three seasons at Louisiana-Lafayette. "He made some great plays. I was trying to make the right plays at the end so we could at least have a chance to win."
Rose returned to his teenage roots Sunday as primarily a ball distributor. He dished out 11 assists, a season high, as the Bulls rallied to win 98-97. He averaged just 3.2 dimes in the previous five games of the Bulls' road trip.
"His playmaking was great," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said, "and that's what got us off to the good start, which was huge for us."
Yes, the Bulls jumped out to a 32-16 lead. It should have been enough to bury a bad Orlando team, but it was not.
His teammates needed Rose to come through in the final minutes.
His best assist, as it turned out, was unintentional. With the Bulls down one, he drew two defenders for a baseline drive. His shot missed, but Pau Gasol was in the perfect spot for the putback dunk.
Rose ended up scoring 10 points on 4-for-14 shooting, the fewest field goals he made on the six-game trip. But, again, there was a feeling that this was his best offensive game.
In terms of shot selection, he was disciplined.
"It was just the way I was feeling," he said. "I could have easily come out and taken 20 shots, but we had a great lead with me not shooting the ball and getting everyone else involved. I didn't want to shoot us out the game."
He hoisted 26 shots against the Lakers, making just seven. He went 8-for-23 in the loss at Phoenix and 9-for-22 when the Bulls stumbled in Houston.
Sunday's performance was about helping teammates such as Gasol (10-for-16 shooting) find the bottom of the net.
"That's great, a really positive stat," Gasol said of the 11 assists. "They were putting pressure on him on pick-and-rolls, and he did a really good job of finding people, making the right play. I'm happy he was able to facilitate more."
Rose settled for too many long jump shots against the Warriors, Lakers, Suns and Rockets. He went a collective 7-for-34 from 3-point land in those games.
Thibodeau reminded Rose about his sensational mid-range game, and he responded with higher-percentage attempts Sunday. Those didn't go in either, reflected in the 4-for-14 shooting night, but at least there were fewer attempts -- especially from deep (1-for-4).
"Derrick was penetrating and attacking," Thibodeau said. "He got to his mid-range game and got some really good looks, rather than settling for the 3 ... He broke the defense down and made great passes, rhythm passes. When he does that, it makes our team make the extra pass."
One example: The Bulls whipped it around the floor to hit an open Tony Snell for a 3-pointer with 6:20 left in the game.
The Bulls need more of that as they return home for a two-game stint before the All-Star break.
"The last couple of weeks have been up and down," Rose said. "They're behind us. When we come out with an effort and play with the lead in the beginning of games, we're a totally different team."
tgreenstein@tribpub.com
Twitter @TeddyGreenstein
