Carlos Boozer scored 20 points, Derrick Rose and Luol Deng each added 16, and the Chicago Bulls beat the Milwaukee Bucks 110-91 on Wednesday night.
Joakim Noah had 13 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for the first triple-double by a Chicago center in roughly 35 years, and the Bulls simply ran away with this one. The Central Division leaders built an 11-point halftime lead and broke it open in the third quarter, a nice send-off for the All-Star break.
Ronnie Brewer scored 15 points as all five Bulls starters scored in double figures. Reserves Kyle Korver (11 points) and Taj Gibson (nine points, 10 rebounds) provided a spark as Chicago handed Milwaukee its sixth loss in seven games.
Brandon Jennings scored 20 points to lead the Bucks, who never really had a chance in this one with Chicago shooting 54.4 percent from the field and dominating on the glass with a 49-29 rebounding edge.
Boozer hit 9 of his 12 shots.
Rose looked sharp again after saying the lower back pain that caused him to miss five recent games is gone. He put up a 23-point effort against Atlanta on Monday with another strong showing.
And then there was Noah. How good was he? Consider this: Not since Artis Gilmore had 35 points, 15 rebounds and 11 blocks against Atlanta on Dec. 20, 1977, had a Bulls center delivered a triple-double.
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Noah fired up the crowd twice in the final minute of the third quarter.
First, he dunked on Beno Udrih for a three-point play. Then, after two free throws by Jennings, he buried a corner jumper with about a second left to make it 93-75, sending a roar through the arena.
