LOS ANGELES (AP) — Derrick Rose scored 22 points and hit a short go-ahead jumper with 4.8 seconds to play, and the Chicago Bulls rallied from an 11-point deficit in the final four minutes for an 88-87 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.

Luol Deng scored 21 points and blocked Kobe Bryant‘s short shot right before the buzzer as the Bulls hung on for a thrilling finish to both clubs’ first Christmas meeting.

Bryant scored 28 points and committed eight turnovers while playing with a torn wrist ligament for the Lakers, who nearly shook off their tumultuous preseason for a surprising win. Instead, Los Angeles was outscored 17-5 in the final 3:36.

Deng scored nine points in the fourth quarter for the Bulls, including a three-point play and two free throws in the final 45 seconds as Chicago snapped a five-game road losing streak against the Lakers.

Carlos Boozer had 15 points for the Bulls, who have designs on a championship run after leading the NBA with 62 regular-season victories last season. Chicago struggled mightily against Brown’s new defensive schemes for the Lakers in the second half, managing just 25 percent shooting (12 for 48) – but Rose and Deng bailed out the Bulls.

Derrick Rose shot

Bryant couldn’t finish strong in his NBA-record 14th Christmas Day appearance for the Lakers, who had an 11-point lead with 3:45 to play before Chicago pulled within 87-86 on Deng’s free throws with 20.4 seconds left.

Bryant wore a compression sleeve on his right arm while playing without a brace on his right wrist after getting hurt last week. He appeared to have trouble handling the ball, but displayed a fairly smooth jump shot and his usual superb footwork.

Pau Gasol added 14 points for the Lakers, but was held scoreless in the fourth quarter while committing four fouls. Los Angeles also played without suspended center Andrew Bynum and departed sixth man Lamar Odom in the debut of coach Mike Brown, who replaced 11-time champion Phil Jackson.

Chicago finally awoke after Los Angeles pushed its fourth-quarter lead to 82-71 with 3:45 to play. The Bulls’ 10-3 run was abetted by four straight missed free throws by the Lakers before Bryant hit a short fadeaway with 54 seconds left. Deng’s three-point play trimmed the lead to 87-84, and Bryant fouled Deng after missing his own shot on the Lakers’ possession.

Rose opened his first season as the reigning MVP by taking just five shots in the first half before taking charge late. The youngest MVP in league history also got a five-year, $94 million contract extension four days ago.

The Lakers’ 13th straight Christmas appearance was the second straight for the Bulls, who returned to the holiday slate last season for the first time since the last of Michael Jordan’s six championship campaigns in 1997.

While the Bulls remained cohesive and consistent in the offseason, nobody knows what to expect from the 16-time champion Lakers after their tumultuous offseason.

Brown said he only installed about a third of his defense-based system during the truncated training camp, and he had to make further changes when the club abruptly traded Odom to Dallas no players in return after failing to acquire Chris Paul from New Orleans.

The Staples Center crowd murmured quizzically when Los Angeles announced a starting lineup including second-year pro Devin Ebanks and newcomer Josh McRoberts, who‘s filling in while Bynum sits out four games for bad behavior in the Mavericks’ Game 4 sweep of the Lakers in the second round last spring.

Both teams gave away small leads in the first half, but Rose’s 3-pointer kick-started a 9-2 run in the final 1:07, and he put the Bulls up 56-47 at halftime with assists on Deng’s 3-pointer and three-point play in the final seconds.

Los Angeles began the second half with an 18-7 run, clicking on both ends while claiming a one-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

NOTES: Bryant’s 14th Christmas game in his 16 NBA seasons surpassed the record jointly held by Earl Monroe, Dolph Schayes and Shaquille O’Neal. … Richard Hamilton scored six points in his first start for the Bulls, who signed the veteran shooter 11 days earlier. … Veteran Lakers Matt Barnes, Luke Walton and Jason Kapono didn’t get into the game. … Fans near courtside included Kanye West, Adam Levine, Terrell Owens, Frank Robinson and Maria Shriver.

Also Read

By Greg Beacham

LOS ANGELES —  Derrick Rose drove the lane and lofted home a smooth floating shot for the winning points in the Chicago Bulls’ opener, just in case anybody doubted the youngest MVP in NBA history can shoulder the expectations that come bundled with that shiny new trophy and a huge contract extension.

Yet Rose realized the Bulls’ dramatic comeback and his beautiful winner were only possible because Luol Deng did a whole mess of dirty work against Kobe Bryant.

Rose scored 22 points and hit a short go-ahead shot with 4.8 seconds to play, and the Bulls rallied from an 11-point deficit in the final 3:44 for an 88-87 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.

“If it weren’t for my teammates, making the steal and getting the ball to me at the end, there’s no way I could have gotten that shot off to help us win that game,” Rose said.

That credit went straight to Deng, who scored 21 points and stole Bryant’s pass with 16.9 seconds left to set up Rose’s winner before finally blocking Bryant’s short shot right before the buzzer. Rose was grateful the Bulls hung on to win the clubs’ first Christmas meeting, but even happier about their poise in an early test.

“We definitely don’t want to be in a situation like that, but we fought our way back,” said Rose, who went 9 for 13. “We just played harder. We stepped up our intensity on the defensive end. Throughout the whole game, our defence wasn’t there. I mean, we showed spots of it, but we didn’t keep it consistent. Then, at the end, we played defence.”

Carlos Boozer had 15 points for the Bulls, who have designs on a championship run after leading the NBA with 62 regular-season victories last season. But Chicago appeared headed for a mildly surprising loss in the first game of a season filled with high expectations until Rose and Deng bailed out the Bulls, who finished with a 17-5 rally.

The Bulls had to score the final seven points to earn their first road win over the Lakers in six tries.

Deng scored nine points in the fourth quarter, including a three-point play and two free throws in the final 45 seconds. One possession before he stretched to block Bryant’s final shot, Deng alertly intercepted Bryant’s pass to Pau Gasol out of a trap, setting up Rose’s winner.

“He threw a lob pass, and I was able to get to it,” Deng said. “As soon as we got the ball, I knew we were going to score.”

Until the final minutes, the Bulls were thoroughly disappointed with their effort, while the Lakers were pleased by their passion and execution after a tumultuous preseason. Chicago struggled mightily against coach Mike Brown’s new defensive schemes for the Lakers in the second half, managing just 25 percent shooting (12 for 48).

Bryant scored 28 points and committed eight turnovers while playing with a torn wrist ligament for the Lakers, but couldn’t finish strong in his NBA-record 14th Christmas Day appearance. Los Angeles still led 87-81 on Bryant’s jumper with 54 seconds left, but Deng and Rose took the game away from him.

“I saw a lot of positive things,” Bryant said. “Defensively, we were terrific. We did a good job, and we’re just going to get better. We’re going to be very good defensively.”

Bryant wore a compression sleeve on his right arm while playing without a brace on his right wrist after getting hurt last week. He appeared to have trouble handling the ball, but displayed a fairly smooth jump shot and his usual superb footwork.

Gasol added 14 points for the Lakers, but was held scoreless in the fourth quarter while committing four fouls. Los Angeles also played without suspended centre Andrew Bynum and departed sixth man Lamar Odom in the debut of Brown, who replaced 11-time champion Phil Jackson.

“We played pretty good basketball until right down the stretch,” Brown said. “There were a lot of things that went wrong down the stretch where we didn’t quite finish the game.”

Los Angeles began the second half with an 18-7 run, clicking on both ends while claiming a one-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. Chicago finally awoke after Los Angeles pushed its fourth-quarter lead to 82-71 with 3:45 to play, and the Bulls’ game-ending run was abetted by four straight missed free throws by the Lakers.

The Lakers’ 13th straight Christmas appearance was the second straight for the Bulls, who returned to the holiday slate last season for the first time since the last of Michael Jordan’s six championship campaigns in 1997.

NOTES: Bryant’s 14th Christmas game in his 16 NBA seasons surpassed the record jointly held by Earl Monroe, Dolph Schayes and Shaquille O’Neal. … Richard Hamilton scored six points in his first start for the Bulls, who signed the veteran shooter 11 days earlier. … Veterans Matt Barnes, Luke Walton and Jason Kapono didn’t get into the game for the Lakers, while rookie G Andrew Goudelock hit two 3-pointers and played 12 1/2 minutes. … Fans near courtside included Kanye West, Adam Levine, Terrell Owens, Frank Robinson and Maria Shriver.

By Greg Beacham, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Derrick Rose scored 22 points and hit a short go-ahead jumper with 4.8 seconds to play, and the Chicago Bulls rallied from an 11-point deficit in the final four minutes for an 88-87 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.

Luol Deng scored 21 points and blocked Kobe Bryant’s short shot right before the buzzer as the Bulls hung on for a thrilling finish to both clubs’ first Christmas meeting.

Bryant scored 28 points and committed eight turnovers while playing with a torn wrist ligament for the Lakers, who nearly shook off their tumultuous preseason for a surprising win. Instead, Los Angeles was outscored 17-5 in the final 3:36.

Deng scored nine points in the fourth quarter for the Bulls, including a three-point play and two free throws in the final 45 seconds as Chicago snapped a five-game road losing streak against the Lakers.

Carlos Boozer had 15 points for the Bulls, who have designs on a championship run after leading the NBA with 62 regular-season victories last season. Chicago struggled mightily against Brown’s new defensive schemes for the Lakers in the second half, managing just 25 percent shooting (12 for 48) — but Rose and Deng bailed out the Bulls.

Bryant couldn’t finish strong in his NBA-record 14th Christmas Day appearance for the Lakers, who had an 11-point lead with 3:45 to play before Chicago pulled within 87-86 on Deng’s free throws with 20.4 seconds left.

Bryant wore a compression sleeve on his right arm while playing without a brace on his right wrist after getting hurt last week. He appeared to have trouble handling the ball, but displayed a fairly smooth jump shot and his usual superb footwork.

Pau Gasol added 14 points for the Lakers, but was held scoreless in the fourth quarter while committing four fouls. Los Angeles also played without suspended center Andrew Bynum and departed sixth man Lamar Odom in the debut of coach Mike Brown, who replaced 11-time champion Phil Jackson.

Chicago finally awoke after Los Angeles pushed its fourth-quarter lead to 82-71 with 3:45 to play. The Bulls’ 10-3 run was abetted by four straight missed free throws by the Lakers before Bryant hit a short fadeaway with 54 seconds left. Deng’s three-point play trimmed the lead to 87-84, and Bryant fouled Deng after missing his own shot on the Lakers’ possession.

Rose opened his first season as the reigning MVP by taking just five shots in the first half before taking charge late. The youngest MVP in league history also got a five-year, $94 million contract extension four days ago.

The Lakers’ 13th straight Christmas appearance was the second straight for the Bulls, who returned to the holiday slate last season for the first time since the last of Michael Jordan’s six championship campaigns in 1997.

It did not end in an NBA title, but the 2010-11 NBA season for the Chicago Bulls was the first season since the Michael Jordan era where the team truly felt like a championship contender. Behind the superb play of Derrick Rose, Luol Deng and Joakim Noah, the Bulls finished with the league’s best overall record in the regular season at 62-20 and set the stage for even greater things in 2011-12.

Derrick Rose has kept Bulls’ fans interested…and hopeful.
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

Before the new season gets underway, here is a look back at the top five moments for the Chicago Bulls and their fans from last season:

1. Derrick Rose named NBA MVP:

Rose cemented his status as the franchise’s first worthy successor to Jordan by claiming NBA Most Valuable Player honors for the first time in his career. There is no doubt Rose deserved it. He posted career-highs in several statistical categories. Rose averaged 25.0 points, 7.7 assists and 4.1 rebounds for Chicago. He is the youngest player in NBA history to win NBA MVP honors.

2. Bulls reach Eastern Conference Finals:

It had been a long time since Chicago had made a deep postseason run. For the first time since 1998, the Bulls made it back to the Eastern Conference finals. Chicago defeated Indiana and Atlanta in the first two rounds before falling to the Miami Heat in five games in the conference finals.

3. Joakim Noah builds on breakout season:

Noah missed 31 games during the course of the season because of surgery on his right thumb and played in only 48 games total. It did not matter. The Bulls center looked every bit worth his contract extension for five years and $60 million. Noah was a defensive force in the middle and posted 11.7 points, 10.4 rebounds, 1.5 blocked shots and 1.0 steals per game.

4. Chicago reaches 60 victories:

Last April, the Bulls gave fans one more reason to believe when they crossed the 60 win plateau with just two games remaining in the regular season following a 102-99 victory over the Orlando Magic. Rose had a superhuman performance, scoring 39 points to help Chicago get to 60 victories for the first time since the Jordan era.

5. Bulls set new franchise record for 3-pointers:

Chicago made a habit of breaking the hearts of Utah Jazz fans in the late 90s en route to winning NBA titles. The Jazz were victims of the Bulls again last March. Chicago made a franchise record 18 3-pointers to beat Utah 118-100. Ironically, ex-Jazz guard Kyle Korver was one of the Utah killers. He knocked down three shots from the perimeter and finished with 17 points. Rose led the way, going 5-of-11 from the perimeter and finishing with 26 points.

When he is not working as a freelance sports reporter, John Coon never misses a chance to catch the Chicago Bulls in action. His passion for the Bulls began at seven years old when he first saw Michael Jordan play.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.