Derrick Rose scored 23 points Monday in his return from a five-game absence because of back pain, and the Chicago Bulls hung on to beat the visiting Atlanta Hawks, 90-79. Rose looked sharp and helped the Bulls play like title contenders after a brutal loss to the Nets two days earlier. They led by 18 through the first quarter and were up by 55-37 at halftime, but they found themselves threatened at the end. The Bulls' lead was trimmed to 85-79 by a 3-pointer by Jannero Pargo. But after Luol Deng hit a 3 of his own to make it a 9-point game, Rose made a turnaround jumper to make it 90-79 with 2 minutes 10 seconds remaining. Joakim Noah had 16 rebounds. Nets 100, Knicks 92: Jeremy Lin flirted with a triple double but the New York Knicks struggled to find the right chemistry with the return of Carmelo Anthony from injury, losing to the New Jersey Nets. The Knicks have eight wins and two losses since the legend of Lin was born with that 99-92 win over the Nets. Lin finished with a team-high 21 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Suns 104, Wizards 88: Host Phoenix scored 100 points against Washington for the 18th game in a row, including a 10-game winning streak that spans six years. It is too bad for the Suns that they do not play the Wizards more often; they won on consecutive nights for the first time this season. Jordan Crawford scored 20 for Washington. Spurs 106, Jazz 102: Tony Parker scored 23 points and Matt Bonner hit five 3-pointers as visiting San Antonio pushed its winning streak to 11 despite playing without Manu Ginobili and Tiago Splitter, who are each out for two weeks with injuries. Utah has lost five in a row. Mavericks 89, Celtics 73: Dirk Nowitzki had 26 points and moved into the top 20 on the NBA career scoring list (with 23,354) for host Dallas. Nowitzki, who also had a season-high 16 rebounds, scored all the points in a 10-2 run in the second quarter that put them in control. Magic 93, Bucks 90: Dwight Howard had 28 points and 16 rebounds for visiting Orlando. It was the Magic's third win against Milwaukee in 10 days, and in each one they had to overcome a fourth-quarter deficit. Thunder 101, Hornets 93: Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook each scored 31 points a night after combining for 91, and Oklahoma City won its 10th straight at home. New Orleans, which lost 23 of its first 25, ended a three-game winning streak. Rockets 97, Grizzlies 93: Kyle Lowry scored 24 points and Kevin Martin added 22 for host Houston. Courtney Lee made four key free throws down the stretch after Memphis cut the lead to 91-89 with 27.4 seconds left. Rudy Gay led the Grizzlies with 23 points. Other results: Nuggets 103, Timberwolves 101; Warriors 104, Clippers 97; Lakers 103, Trail Blazers 92.
