AUBURN HILLS—Brandon Knight scored 20 points Sunday night to help the Detroit Pistons snap an 18-game losing streak against the Bulls with a 99-85 victory Sunday night.Jonas Jerebko added 17 points and a season-high nine rebounds for the Pistons, who ended an eight-game home skid.The Bulls led by as many as 11 points in the first quarter but Detroit gradually caught up and took the lead in the second after starting the period on a 12-4 run.Carlos Boozer had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the postseason-bound Bulls, who are fighting to secure the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. Nate Robinson added 18 points and Jimmy Butler scored 14 as the Bulls two-game winning streak ended.The Pistons took a 50-46 lead to intermission and pushed it to as many as 10 in the third quarter. Knight scored a dozen points in the period. Detroit scored the first four points of the fourth and never let the Bulls get closer than 10 points the rest of the night.Rodney Stuckey had 14 points and rookie Andre Drummond added 10 rebounds for Detroit. Luol Deng, the Bulls’ leading scorer and the NBA’s leader in minutes per game, missed the game with a sore hip. Coach Tom Thibodeau said the decision to bench him was “precautionary.” Joakim Noah, who missed eight games with an injured right foot, and Marco Belinelli, who was out seven with an abdominal strain, each returned Sunday night.The Bulls were aiming to match the franchise record for consecutive victories over an opponent, which also was against the Pistons. Michael Jordan’s 1990s teams won 19 in a row against Detroit.The Pistons treated home fans to their first win since the All-Star break. They hadn’t won at the Palace of Auburn Hills since Feb. 13.
NOTES—At this point, the reason Derrick Rose hasn’t returned from the ACL tear he suffered a year ago is like the Kennedy assassination. There are a million theories around it and no one really knows.One of the new ones is that Rose is hesitant to return because he doesn’t want a minutes-limit return if he comes back. Over the weekend, Rose disputed that idea:
“I wouldn’t mind at all,” he said. “Of course I want to play more. But it’s not that big. I’m going to play whenever I’m ready. I don’t care if it’s 15 or 40 (minutes). I just love the game too much. Like I said, I’m just waiting and praying about it. And hopefully I’ll be out there soon.”
Since the likelihood of Rose sitting out the season increases with each day, he got asked if having another summer of rehabilitation and drill work would benefit him.
“I think it is where it gives me more time to work out if I don’t play,” Rose said. “But I think I have enough time already knowing I haven’t played in a long time. Just taking that time and getting my body together, it could definitely be big. But I’m going to come back whenever I’m ready.”……The Bulls last loss to the Pistons was Dec. 23, 2008.