Bulls stumble on the road against Bobcats

The Bulls tried to refocus on the road Wednesday in Charlotte but ran into a couple of committed ex-Bulls.

Tyrus Thomas produced 17 points and 13 rebounds, canning an unlikely reverse lay-in with 1:14 remaining to put the Bobcats ahead for good. The Bulls dropped their third straight road game to a team with a losing record after falling 96-91.

“This is a game I'm always extra anxious to play in,” Thomas said after the game. “Coach (Paul Silas) told me to keep shooting and they started falling for me. I just tried to key on my defense and rebounds out there and let everything else come to me.”

After Thomas put the Bobcats ahead, Derrick Rose missed a driving lay-in, and Stephen Jackson's turnaround jumper over Luol Deng made it a 3-point game with 34.7 seconds left.

On the next Bulls possession, Rose started a drive and stopped, but his pass missed a cutting Deng and after the turnover, guard D.J. Augustin put the home team up 94-89 with a pair of free throws.

“We didn't come out with a lot of energy and let them score 36 points in the first quarter,” Rose said. “We gave them confidence and it was going to be a long night.”

The Bulls' defense was poor early and they fell behind by 17 points in the second quarter. But they also rallied in plenty of time and led 80-75 with eight minutes remaining.

This was a night when the Bulls (25-13) could have used another scorer. Carlos Boozer led the visitors with 23 points and 14 rebounds but also had a couple of bad misses.

He blew an open dunk after making a nice cut down the lane with 6:27 left. He also missed a good look at a lay-in while the Bulls trailed by 2 with about three minutes remaining.

After a Rose 3-point play and Boozer layup, the Bulls took a brief 89-88 edge with 1:32 on the clock.

Rose hit just 5 of 17 shots and finished with 17 points. Deng added 22 but didn't score in the fourth quarter. Kurt Thomas and Kyle Korver were next on the scoring list with 9 points each.

Coach Tom Thibodeau has been pleading all season for the Bulls to become a 48-minute team. It didn't happen Wednesday as the Bobcats diced the Bulls' defense in the opening quarter.

“We can't continue that pattern. We have to play better from the start,” Boozer said. “We can't be one of those teams that has slow starts and rely on ourselves to come back. It's something we have to clean up, and clean up fast before we get to Indiana (on Friday).”

The other committed ex-Bull was Charlotte owner Michael Jordan, who not only sat courtside near his team's bench but also dispensed advice at Tuesday's practice and Wednesday's shootaround.

“That's cool. He's got a lot to say and it's usually on the money,” Charlotte coach Paul Silas said before the game. “Not too many owners come around like that — with his knowledge.”

The Bobcats improved to 6-2 since Silas took over from Larry Brown but beat a team with a winning record for just the second time all season.

“Who's going to backtalk (Jordan)?” said Gerald Wallace, who scored 14 points in his return from an ankle injury. “When you have the best guy that ever played the game sitting there criticizing your game or helping you improve, I don't think anybody takes it the wrong way.”