Bulls past Wizards 95-87 to gain ground

Chicago Bulls gained ground in the Eastern Conference playoff race Friday night with a 95-87 victory over the Washington Wizards.Derrick Rose scored 24 points, Luol Deng had 14 in his return from an injury.

Taj Gibson added 14 points and tied a career high with 16 rebounds for the Bulls, who have taken advantage of a soft patch in the schedule to win five of seven games and are getting healthier down the homestretch.

Joakim Noah added 10 points and eight rebounds in his return to Chicago's starting lineup. The victory put the Bulls 1 1/2 games behind the Toronto Raptors, who currently hold the eighth and final postseason spot. The Raptors were idle Friday.

Deng, back after missing 11 games with a strained right calf, went 6 for 8 from the field in 28 minutes as a sub. Noah, who has been coming off the bench while recovering from plantar fasciitis, started for the first time since Feb. 3 and went 4 for 6 in 26 minutes.

The latest on Chicago's nicks and strains took up nearly all of coach Vinny Del Negro's pregame meeting with reporters -- ''Next time, can we just send the doctor out?'' he asked half-jokingly -- so he was happy to see some positive developments. Besides Noah and Deng, James Johnson (seven points) is playing with a strained right foot and Kirk Hinrich (10 points) is recovering from a sprained left ankle.

The Wizards led 73-70 late in the third quarter, but they then made only one field goal over a span of nearly 9 minutes. Gibson made a pair of layups to get the Bulls going, Deng added a jumper and a free throw, Hakim Warrick had three buckets, and then came the alley-oop to Rose that put Chicago ahead 87-80 midway through the fourth.