Sitting out fourth quarters won't become a trend for Boozer

Whatever hint of controversy there may be from Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau keeping Carlos Boozer on the bench for the final 14 minutes of Wednesday's loss at New Jersey will be forgotten quickly.

Why? Because Boozer will be back on the court, no doubt playing heavy minutes, this weekend when the Bulls play Philadelphia and Boston.

The Bulls spent Thursday in Philadelphia and since it was the lone off day during a stretch of four games in five nights, they did not practice.

A message sent on Boozer's Twitter account might have been meant as a sign he has already moved on. It read, “Be thankful for the blessings we have… instead of worrying about what we don't have…”

Technically, Boozer sat out the entire fourth quarter in the last two games. The first one came as a reward because the reserves took care of business in a 111-91 win over Toronto and there was no need to send Boozer or Derrick Rose back onto the floor.

Wednesday's rotation was due to game circumstances. The Bulls led New Jersey 47-46 at halftime, then came out flat in the third quarter and fell behind by 13 points.

Boozer went to the bench with about two minutes remaining in the third quarter, which is normal. Then, for the second night in a row, a lineup of C.J. Watson, Ronnie Brewer, Kyle Korver, Luol Deng and Omer Asik performed well.

It's not accurate to say Boozer was benched. He left the game at the usual time, and when the reserves played well in the fourth quarter Thibodeau chose not to send Boozer back onto the court. Rose didn't even return until there were four minutes remaining.

“The big thing was, we were behind big and they were zoning,” Thibodeau said after the game. “The group that went in, we were playing Luol at the four, which gave us another perimeter player. That was more effective for us against the zone, so that's why we did it. So when that group cut the lead down and now we were in position, we just finished with the group that was going well.”

Thibodeau also mentioned his concerns about matching up defensively against Nets center Brook Lopez. He used Asik or Kurt Thomas for that role down the stretch.

New Jersey's big men — Lopez (14 points), Kris Humphries (20), Derrick Favors (7 points in 9 minutes) and even Johan Petro (2 putback baskets) — gave the Bulls problems. So the decision to leave Boozer off the floor is understandable.

“Yeah, we were surprised,” Rose said, according to an espn.com report. “But we're not going to try to coach. We're going to try to go out there and do our jobs and that's to play. We're just going to leave all the subbing and everything up to (Thibodeau).”

Boozer might have helped offensively, however. A key sequence came after Korver's 3-point basket pulled the Bulls within 85-84 with 4:55 left. While Asik, Korver and Watson missed shots on the next three possessions, Nets guard Devin Harris led the home team on an 8-0 run that sent the lead to 93-84 with 2:51 remaining.

Rose sparked a frantic comeback and the Bulls finally tied the score on Watson's free throws with 11.1 seconds on the clock. New Jersey guard Sasha Vujacic scored the game-winner with 5.3 seconds left after grabbing a deflected pass in the lane.

The most significant question facing the Bulls is not regarding Boozer. After two straight strong performances by the reserves, the biggest issue is whether it's finally time to put Brewer in the starting lineup and also create more minutes for Watson to play alongside Rose.

Brewer usually gets starter's minutes, anyway. But Watson has logged less than 15 minutes in nine of the last 14 contests. When given extended minutes, he has often provided scoring punch.

Keith Bogans, the starter at shooting guard, is averaging 3.6 points and shooting 36.7 percent from the field.

Bulls Game Day

Bulls vs. Philadelphia 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center, 6 p.m. Friday

<b>TV: </b>Comcast SportsNet-plus

<b>Radio:</b> WMVP 1000-AM

<b>Update: </b>The Sixers (14-21) have been playing much better since a 3-13 start, but they did not look very good in a 121-76 loss at the United Center on Dec. 21. Later in the eight-game road trip, Philadelphia beat Denver and Phoenix. SF Andre Iguodala (14.2 ppg) is out with Achilles tendinitis, leaving ex-Bull Elton Brand (14.9 ppg) and second-year guard Jrue Holiday (14.6) to carry the offense. The Bulls are 6-5 at Philadelphia's home arena since 2004-05

<b>Next:</b> Boston Celtics on Saturday at the United Center, 7 p.m.