Rose's heroics no panacea for Bulls

— -- CHICAGO -- Near the end of the first quarter, Derrick Rose drove right into the teeth of the Washington Wizards' defense, splitting Marcin Gortat and Kris Humphries in the paint for a twisting layup.

Twenty-seven seconds later, Rose buried a 47-foot jump shot to end the first quarter as the crowd went wild.

Rose scored 17 in the first quarter en route to a season-high 32 points in 36 minutes. It was a throwback game for the guard who gets dissected more than a high school anatomy-class frog.

But it was a throwaway game for the rest of the team, as Washington beat the Chicago Bulls for the second time in a week on Wednesday night at the United Center.

So much for my plan of throwing petals at Rose's feet.

Chicago (26-14) has lost 4 of 5 games as it nears the midway point of the season. Among the top eight teams in the East, the Bulls' 99.3 points allowed per game is the third-worst.

Cue the scary, TV-news music. "Crisis at 1901 West Madison Street!"

Or not. Rose chuckled at the idea the players should hold a team meeting.

"We didn't lose 20 games now," Rose said. "We only lost two [in a row]."

Here's some good news: No one was bellyaching about every Rose shot attempt, as he hit 12 of 22 shots and 6 of 9 3-pointers going against nemesis John Wall.

Rose was smooth and confident with the ball, the culmination of behind-the-scenes work. His scoring slump is seemingly behind him. For the Bulls to make any noise in the spring, Rose has to be able to carry the Bulls against the best teams.

Sorry, Jimmy Butler superfans, it's true. While he didn't do it in the fourth quarter, Rose gave the Bulls a lift in the beginning. He's starting to put it together.

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau thinks Rose's improved play is due to increased minutes. And he might not be wrong. Rose got into an early rhythm by playing the entire first quarter. Thibodeau has not so lightly hinted that minutes restrictions and overcaution has slowed Rose's progress this season.

"He was a lot more aggressive," Thibodeau said. "He played more minutes. That's good for him. He's got to go. I've been saying it all season."

Thibodeau has also been saying the Bulls need to improve their defensive intensity all season, but it didn't happen Wednesday. It's definitely a concern, and not an anomaly.

"This year, we've got to put two halves together on the defensive side and let them know that presence is always going to be there," Rose said.

But as Rose noted, at least the defense in the first half was good Wednesday. In their 121-114 loss to the Orlando Magic two days before, the Bulls got worked the entire game.

One thing is for sure: There is something missing with the Bulls. And even they can't quite put their finger on what it is. For a veteran team, they're having trouble coalescing.

Maybe it's just a lull. Maybe expectations got raised a little too high when Butler was doing his MVP impression. I'm guessing it's a little bit of both.

"We're going through a little adversity," Rose said. "But guys are trying."

Pau Gasol agreed.

"Part of the path, an opportunity to understand we have work to do," he said. "It's important to go through obstacles and adversity."

Thibodeau can do without the path and the adversity talk. He's not a life lesson type of guy. A few wins in a row would be nice.

The Bulls have the Eastern Conference-leading Atlanta Hawks at home on Saturday. That comes after a Friday night game against whoever is on the Boston Celtics roster nowadays.

Wins over Washington and Atlanta would have been nice for the narrative of a championship contender.

"We need a win, no matter who is coming here," Rose said. "It could be a college team or whoever. We just got to come here and play. It don't make a difference."

Against Washington (27-12), which is second in the East, the Bulls were simply outworked in the second half.

Chicago's likely All-Stars were stymied. Butler's shooting slump lingered on with a 3-of-10 night. He has shot 32 percent over his past six games. And Gasol couldn't do much against Nene. The rest of the team was spotty -- a nice shot here, a missed rotation there.

Joakim Noah, hobbled but hungry, missed the last two quarters with a right ankle injury and left in a walking boot. That certainly had something to do with Washington's success. Gortat scored 10 of his 11 points in what turned out to be the decisive 32-19 third quarter.

The Wizards got balanced, efficient scoring from their backcourt -- 38 points on 31 field goal attempts from Wall and Bradley Beal -- and 22 points from Paul Pierce.

Thibodeau didn't rage like he did after the Orlando loss, but he's back to lamenting the Bulls' altered "reality" with Noah out and Mike Dunleavy missing his seventh straight with an ankle injury.

Rose going off isn't going to get it done every night.

"It's tough to build continuity that way, when you have guys in and out," Thibodeau said. "But that's our reality. We've got to figure it out and deal with it."

Thibodeau's doom-and-gloom act can cast a pall over this team. But with 42 games left, there's plenty of time for the Bulls to improve on both ends.

Rose has to lead them. The good news is it looks like he's willing and able.