ORLANDO -- Bulls starters Joakim Noah (foot) and Luol Deng (calf) sat out Thursday's nationally-televised mismatch. Then All-Star guard Derrick Rose suffered an injury to his left wrist late in the first period when he was fouled hard by imposing All-Star center Dwight Howard.
Rose had his wrist X-rayed and reportedly had it placed in a sling by halftime.
"That is why they are one of the best defensive teams in the league, because they can control the paint with (Howard)," said Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro.
Orlando captured its seventh straight victory and the Bulls dropped their sixth in a row.
Orlando led 65-33 at the half, converting 62 percent of their shots while the Bulls sank just 32 percent. Orlando also out-rebounded the Bulls 24-12 in the first half.
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The Bulls need an enforcer on this team, someone to protect our francise player from these Bad-Boy type fouls. Why has no one gone to bat against Howard for those hard fouls against Rose?