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Anthony's jumper sinks Bulls

The Bulls' trip to Denver on Friday was almost an exact replay of their victory in Phoenix two days earlier.

They got off to a miserably slow start and fell way behind before their talented point guard carried them back into contention.

There were two significant differences from the game against the Suns. The standout point guard was C.J. Watson, who erupted for 33 points in place of the injured Derrick Rose (sore neck).

The other difference was instead of a double-overtime win, the Bulls suffered a heartbreaking 98-97 loss when Denver's Carmelo Anthony drained a 20-foot jumper at the buzzer.

A few seconds earlier the Bulls played great defense as Anthony tried to drive toward the rim. They forced him to miss a tough shot but couldn't corral the rebound and it went out of bounds to the Nuggets with four seconds on the clock.

Anthony got the ball back and with Luol Deng playing a little too far back on defense and Ronnie Brewer choosing not to double-team from the left side, Denver got the game-winner.

“You've got to come up with (the rebound). The game's on the line,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. Regarding the game-winning shot, he said, “It was a quick play, it was crowded, he made a tough shot.”

On the Bulls' final offensive possession, they were up by 1 with 24 seconds left, so Denver had to foul or force a turnover. Thibodeau made a decision that will be second-guessed by putting newly signed John Lucas III on the court with Watson, Deng, Kyle Korver and Joakim Noah.

The Bulls (8-6) passed the ball around a little bit before Lucas was fouled. He bricked both free throws, giving Denver the chance to win with a 2-point shot.

“I knew they weren't going to foul initially,” Thibodeau said. “I felt they were going to trap and try to make us pass the ball around. So I wanted guys who could make plays, and it didn't work out.”

Lucas is a career 78.9 percent free-throw shooter in the NBA, but that was from going 15-for-19 for Houston during the 2006-07 season. The best foul shooter not on the floor for the Bulls on the last possession was Keith Bogans at 66.7 percent.

Denver (9-6) led 94-91 with just more than two minutes remaining before Watson finished off driving baskets on the next three trips. His last hoop made it 97-94 with 30.3 seconds on the clock. The Nuggets pulled within 1 point on 2 free throws by Anthony (22 points).

Rose missed the sixth game of his NBA career, and the Bulls are 1-5 without their rising star. The Bulls are hoping he will be ready to play Saturday when the circus trip comes to an end in Sacramento.

Without their leading scorer, the Bulls got off to a miserable start, falling behind 11-0 and 24-7. At that point, with 5:33 left in the first quarter, Denver had knocked down 11 of 14 shots.

During the rest of the opening quarter, the Nuggets went 0-for-9, and the Bulls delivered a 13-1 run to close within 25-20 at the end of 12 minutes.

When Denver scored the first 7 points of the third quarter to open a 55-38 lead, Thibodeau tore into his players during a 20-second timeout. The Bulls responded by trimming a deficit that peaked at 19 points down to 1 with 1:56 left in the third quarter.

Deng scored 24 points for the Bulls, while Noah finished with 17 points and 16 rebounds.

Bulls sign guard John Lucas III

Bulls game day

Chicago Bulls guard C.J. Watson (32) drives to the basket against Denver Nuggets forward Shelden Williams (23) in the first quarter Friday. Associated Press