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McGraw: Shots won't fall for Bulls in loss

The Bulls were rolling along like the Polar Express late in the third quarter of Monday's game at Indiana, then in an instant, plunged into a deep freeze.

Their cold shooting continued for a second night Tuesday against Brooklyn. Both Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler were well off-target in a 96-82 loss to the Nets at the United Center.

The game wasn't even as close as the final score indicated. The Bulls trailed by more than 20 points for most of the fourth quarter.

The Bulls (22-10) ended a seven-game winning streak. Before Tuesday, Brooklyn had just 1 victory over a team with a winning record but now has won five of its last six contests.

"It doesn't take much to throw you off," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "The important thing is, we have to play with more of an edge."

Added center Joakim Noah: "I think we can learn a lot from it. When we have an edge to us, we're very hard to beat. As soon as we exhale, we can lose to anybody."

Butler had a rare off night, hitting just 3 of 12 shots for 8 points. Mike Dunleavy was the only Bulls player who shot well, and he finished with a team-high 23 points. Center Brook Lopez scored a season-high 29 for the Nets.

Derrick Rose's shooting touch has gone completely off the rails. After missing his last 9 shots from the field against Indiana, Rose went 2-for-15 against the Nets. For those keeping score, he has missed 22 of his last 24 shot attempts.

Still, Rose was in good spirits in the locker room and maintained that health-wise he's doing well.

"Basketball gods, man," Rose said with a smile. "It's only two games. Two games, I'm not going to stop shooting. I know when I do start knocking them down, it's going to be something different."

Most of Rose's shots these past two nights have barely missed. He had one in the final seconds against the Pacers that was halfway down the rim before rattling out. That basket would have clinched the win for the Bulls, and they pulled it out anyway when Indiana's C.J. Watson missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Brooklyn kept giving Rose room to shoot, and he put up shots like he expected the next one to go in, but it usually did not.

"There's only one way to get out - keep shooting," Rose said. "My teammates have a lot of confidence in me when I shoot the ball. That's why I kept shooting tonight. We were looking for someone to take charge and it didn't happen.

"That's what living is all about: You live and you learn. I know I'm going to have worse nights than this. But I've just got to learn from it, stay consistent with my workouts and find ways to affect the game when there's nights like this."

The Bulls needed a spark from somewhere, and one of their most reliable weapons wasn't around. Backup guard Aaron Brooks was ejected at the end of the first quarter for arguing a call.

After time ran out, Brooks walked in front of one referee, threw the ball to another ref and seemed very surprised to get hit with the technical. His reaction to the first penalty quickly brought the ejection.

"I said, 'Come on,' in a very pleasant voice - seriously - and I got a tech," Brooks said. "That's a two grand loss, so I kind of lost it at that point. I probably had some choice words after the first one. It happens. I just wish I was out there to help, to do my job."

Brooks said he'd been trying to back off interaction with referees after getting 2 technical fouls earlier this season.

"I've been trying to chill out," Brooks said. "The fines were getting a little hefty and I was seeing it in my check. There was a lot of yelling at the ref going on during the game and the only person that wasn't yelling got a technical. That doesn't make any sense to me, but whatever."

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