Derrick Rose puts his stamp on Bulls’ blowout of Bucks

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Derrick Rose drives the basket against the Bucks' Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (left) and Shaun Livingston on Saturday. | Jeffrey Phelps~AP

Updated: March 25, 2012 5:50PM

MILWAUKEE — Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau loves his bench, but leave it to Milwaukee Bucks coach Scott Skiles to put things in the proper perspective when he was asked what it was about the Bulls’ bench that distinguishes it.

‘‘Nothing against anybody over there, but Derrick Rose distinguishes that team,’’ Skiles said. ‘‘Luol [Deng] is a very high-level player. Boozer’s a good player. Jo [Joakim Noah] is a good player. But they have a guy that’s at the top of the league. Those other guys would be nice additions to any team. But [Rose] is truly a great player.’’

About an hour later, Rose showed exactly what Skiles was talking about. The reigning MVP, playing before a sellout crowd at the Bradley Center dominated by Bulls fans, almost single-handedly blitzed the Bucks in the first half of the first quarter to ignite a 113-90 blowout.

Rose hit three three-pointers and scored 13 points in a 15-2 run that gave the Bulls a 15-4 lead with 7:15 left in the first quarter. He finished with 26 points on 11-for-24 shooting, 13 assists and seven rebounds in a sterling performance that looked like payback against Bucks guard Brandon Jennings, who scored 16 points in the first quarter against Rose at the United Center last month.

‘‘That’s what I live for. That’s the way Chicago players play — aggressive,’’ Rose said. ‘‘If anything, it made me play harder. That’s what we tried to do tonight.’’

‘‘Derrick remembers things,’’ said Bulls forward Kyle Korver, who added 18 points off the bench. ‘‘And the last time we played Milwaukee, Brandon Jennings really went at him in the first quarter. Derrick looks for anything. I think he really wanted to attack.’’

Rose elicited chants of ‘‘M-V-P’’ from the partisan Bulls crowd just 4:08 into the game after hitting a pull-up three-pointer that gave the Bulls a 10-4 lead. He followed that with a drive through traffic, then hit another three-pointer to bring the crowd to its feet again.

It wasn’t as easy as it looked for Rose. He sat out most of the second quarter with what appeared to be back or hip issues and was worked on by assistant trainer Jeff Tanaka throughout much of the quarter. But Rose returned in the second half and, while still not appearing to be 100 percent, turned it on to finish the blowout.

‘‘My back tends to get tight a little bit. That’s why my shots were kind of flat,’’ Rose said. ‘‘I know ­after a day off tomorrow, I’ll get my back worked on, and that should be out of the way quickly.’’

The Bulls got a boost from the return of Deng, who had missed the previous seven games with a torn ligament in his left wrist. Deng scored 13 of his 21 points in the first half and added nine rebounds in a typical 41-minute performance.

Deng’s return seemed to inspire his teammates, particularly the excitable Noah, who had two dunks and a 17-foot jumper in the first quarter. He finished with 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting with nine ­rebounds.

The pro-Bulls crowd that made it feel like a home game did not go unnoticed.

‘‘Our fan base is unbelievable,’’ Rose said. ‘‘I want to thank all of them that came out and supported us. It means a lot, not only to me, but our team and the organization.’’

With Rose leading the way, the Bulls were so dominant that the crowd was calling for Brian Scalabrine in the first half as the Bulls pulled away to a 67-43 lead. They had four players in double figures by halftime — Rose (18), Korver (15), Deng (13) and Noah (13).