Rose’s return sparks Bulls past Celtics

NEW YORK — Derrick Rose, who took last season's Most Valuable Player award, returned to the Chicago lineup on Friday and paced the league leading Bulls to an 88-79 victory over the Boston Celtics in NBA at the TD Garden.

Rose sat out the Bulls' win over Washington on Wednesday with a sprained big left toe, and after a slow start on Friday he finished with a game-high 25 points and added seven assists.

The Celtics (4-6) struggled through a horrendous first half scoring on just 33 per cent of their shots while the Bulls (11-2) sprinted to a 52-33 lead.

"The great players find a way," Rose told reporters of playing through the pain.

Slow starts have been a recurring theme in the Celtics' current three game losing stretch, all at home.

"We have to have better starts," said Ray Allen. "The one thing I can say is this first quarter was a mirror image of the last game. It's hard to blame it on a lack of energy, because we had great shots and didn't make them."

Boston responded with a strong push into the fourth quarter, trimming the deficit to 67-66 on a three-pointer by Mickael Pietrus with 10 minutes left, before losing their momentum.

Boston missed their next two shots and Rose scored seven of the next nine points in the game to send the Bulls to victory.