Bulls rout Bucks

MILWAUKEE (MCT) — The questions about Luol Deng's return were flying, and then came another about how the Bulls' depth distinguishes them. Finally, Scott Skiles had heard enough.

"Nothing against anybody over there," the Bucks coach said in his typically blunt manner, "but Derrick Rose distinguishes that team."

On a Saturday night when Deng returned after missing seven games with a torn ligament in his left wrist, Rose demanded the spotlight yet again in the Bulls' 113-90 victory over the Bucks.

Motivated by Brandon Jennings' aggressive start to these teams' Jan. 27 meeting, Rose blasted out of the gate with 16 points in the first 5 minutes, 53 seconds. He finished with 26 points and 13 assists, thrilling the pro-Bulls crowd at the Bradley Center. He's averaging 29.8 points over his last six games.

"Derrick remembers things," Kyle Korver said. "He really wanted to attack."

Asked if Jennings' big first quarter late last month motivated him, Rose, who repeatedly got stretched during timeouts for a sore back, didn't smile.

"That's what I live for," Rose said. "That's the way Chicago players play, aggressive. I love that."

Deng finished with 21 points in 41 minutes, sinking his first three 3-pointers, and added nine rebounds. He wore a wrap on the wrist and grimaced when he pushed off the floor to rise from a fourth-quarter fall.

"I felt a little hesitant early," he said. "I was a little worried about getting bumped. I missed those layups. But I took the hit in the fourth quarter so it's fine.

"This is going to be the pain. I can't make it any worse. I felt it and I'm going to feel it. As the game went on, I forgot about it."

In his most expansive comments about the injury, Deng said doctors told him to rest four to six weeks before returning. He also said he had planned to play Thursday in New York until soreness followed a Wednesday scrimmage with teammates, pushing his return to Saturday and two weeks since the injury.

"I'm going to continue the same," Deng said. "I'm going to practice and forget about it. I don't even want to keep talking about it. I just want to play."