Thu, 12/31 Bulls @ Pistons

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- When the Chicago Bulls won in Sacramento on Nov. 14, they were hoping they'd get their next road victory before Thanksgiving.

Instead, it took until New Year's Eve.

"I wasn't thinking about the streak -- I just wanted to get a win," Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said. "This was just a nice, solid win for us."

Derrick Rose scored 22 points, and Joakim Noah added 15 points and 21 rebounds to help the Bulls end a six-week road drought with a 98-87 victory over Detroit.

"This feels good," Noah said after Chicago won its third in a row overall. "I think we are just playing better basketball right now for whatever reason."

[...]

Chicago had lost eight straight on the road, but never trailed while handing Detroit its ninth straight loss. The Pistons (11-21) are 10 games under .500 for the first time since the 2000-01 season, but coach John Kuester was still encouraged.

"I saw a number of positive things out there," he said. "I'm sure people are going to hear that and say, 'You must be kidding,' but we did some good things. We lost Rip [Hamilton], Tayshaun [Prince] and Ben Gordon for extended periods of time, and there's no chance that they were going to come right back in midseason form."

Tyrus Thomas added 19 points for Chicago (13-17), and John Salmons had 17.

Rodney Stuckey led the Pistons with 22 points despite leaving the game twice in the first half after spraining his left ankle.

[...]

Detroit got to 46-44 in the third quarter, but Chicago led 69-56 at the end of the period. The Bulls led by 20 as the Palace emptied during the fourth quarter.

[...]

Game notes
... Detroit has not led in the second half of any of its last six games. Their only lead in the last two games -- at home against the struggling Knicks and Bulls -- was 2-0 against New York. ... Thomas had 10 points in the first three quarters without making a field goal. He was 0 for 2 from the floor and 10 for 12 from the line.