LEAD: Bulls bounce back to edge Knicks behind Rose's big night

By Paul Levine Feb 3, 2012, 8:04 GMT

Los Angeles - Humbled minutes after learning he was voted an Eastern Conference starter a second straight year for the All-Star Game, Derrick Rose took charge down the stretch.

The reigning NBA Most Valuable Player erupted for 15 of his 32 points in the final quarter, and handed out 13 assists Thursday night, carrying the visiting Chicago Bulls past the struggling New York Knicks 105-102.

Behind Rose, the Bulls rebounded from Wednesday's blowout at Philadelphia and avoided their first two-game losing streak of the season while improving to an Eastern Conference-leading 19-6 record.

'Tonight,' Rose said, 'we were just trying to redeem ourselves with this game.'

Carlos Boozer and Kyle Korver finished with 16 points apiece for the Bulls, who moved to 2-2 on their grueling nine-game road trip without injured starters Luol Deng (wrist) and Richard Hamilton (thigh).

Amar'e Stoudemire had a season-high 34 points with 11 rebounds while Carmelo Anthony scored 26, but missed the potential game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer for the Knicks, who have lost 10 of their last 12 contests.

'For the most part, we played extremely hard tonight,' said Anthony, who will join Rose as an Eastern Conference starter on Feb. 26 in Orlando. 'We've got to pat ourselves on the back for something. We can go and magnify the turnovers late in the second quarter; we still a chance to win the basketball game.'

Ahead by 11 at halftime, the Bulls had their lead sliced to 77-75 after three quarters before Rose caught fire.

The speedy guard scored 14 of the team's 18 points to start the final frame, including a pair of threes and an acrobatic scoop layup, sparking the Bulls to an 95-88 advantage midway through the period.

The Knicks refused to go away, though. Landry Fields' layup pulled them within 101-100 with 23.4 seconds left. But Korver hit two free throws with 13.7 seconds remaining and Taj Gibson added one of two with 9.3 ticks to go, making it 104-100 after Stoudemire missed a wide-open, straight-away three-point try that would have squared the contest.

'That shot normally falls for me,' Stoudemire said.

After two free throws by Anthony pulled the Knicks within two, they had a chance to force overtime, when Rose split a pair from the stripe with 5.3 seconds remaining. Anthony raced across mid-court and launched a desperation three-point try from the right side that missed badly at the buzzer.

'We always say you got to find a way, and the good teams in this league find different ways to win games,' Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. 'Ideally, you'd like to count on both your offense and your defense.'

Elsewhere: Denver Nuggets 112, LA Clippers 91: Italy's Danilo Gallinari drained all five of his threes en route to 21 points, Ty Lawson added 18 and the visiting Nuggets dominated the middle two periods, 67-35, to snap the LA Clippers' four-game winning streak.

Blake Griffin scored 18 points for the Pacific Division-leading Clippers while fellow All-Star starter Chris Paul finished with 15 points and nine assists.

San Antonio Spurs 93, New Orleans Hornets 81: Tim Duncan had 19 points with nine rebounds, Frenchman Tony Parker scored eight of his 18 points in the final quarter, and the Spurs improved to a league best 12-1 at home while handing the visiting Hornets their fourth straight loss.

Memphis Grizzlies 96, Atlanta Hawks 77: Rudy Gay scored 21 points, Tony Allen and O.J. Mayo added 18 apiece, and the Grizzlies beat the listless Hawks in Atlanta for the first time in seven visits.

Golden State Warriors 119, Utah Jazz 101: Monta Ellis fired in 33 points, Stephen Curry had 29 points with 12 assists and the Warriors drummed the visiting Jazz for their third win in the last four outings.

Sacramento Kings 95, Portland Trail Blazers 92: Marcus Thornton scored 20 points after missing four games, John Salmons added 18 and the Kings escaped the visiting Trail Blazers to stop a four-game slide.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 28 with 14 rebounds for Portland (12-9), which failed to force overtime when Raymond Felton and Jamal Crawford missed three-pointers in the final 10 seconds.