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Bulls fall to Lakers in double OT

Derrick Rose continued to support Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau.

During a national interview released Thursday, Rose was asked about the rumor floated last week that Thibodeau had lost support from the Bulls' locker room.

“There's no truth to it at all,” Rose told USA Today. “Thibs, he's been doing a great job of preparing us — every game, every practice, every shootaround. As far as us coming out and losing games, it has to do with the team, the players, coming out and not playing with enough effort and not competing while we're on the floor.

“That's been some of the biggest reasons why we were in those tough positions and losing those games, but it doesn't have anything to do with the coach or the coaching staff.”

As has been their tendency this season, the Bulls followed Tuesday's win over Golden State with a horrid 123-118 double overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, who were missing their top two scorers and ended a nine-game losing streak.

The Bulls made a miracle comeback late in the fourth quarter, trailing 98-89 with 1:29 left. A couple of steals led to a 3-pointer and dunk by Jimmy Butler. Then the Bulls tied it on a tip-in by former Laker Pau Gasol with 11 seconds remaining.

In overtime, the Bulls (30-18) built a 5-point lead and let it slip away. The Lakers tied it with 16.2 seconds left on a 20-foot jumper by Jordan Hill and the Bulls had nothing left for the second extra session.

Butler lived up to his all-star status with 35 points. Gasol scored 20 and Rose hit just 7 of 26 shots for 17 points. Hill scored 26 for the Lakers (13-34).

When it comes to Thibodeau's status with the Bulls, nothing to this story has changed. There hasn't been a good working relationship between the coaching staff and management for some time. The only difference is Thibodeau's former coaching boss, Jeff Van Gundy, complained about Thibodeau's treatment during an ESPN broadcast last week and Bulls vice president John Paxson reacted angrily to Van Gundy's comments.

Butler named an all-star:

Bulls forward Jimmy Butler continued his meteoric rise, going from the No. 30 pick of the 2011 draft to a lightly-used rookie to an NBA all-star in a span of four years.

Butler was named an Eastern Conference reserve on Thursday, chosen by a vote of head coaches. Heading into Thursday's action, Butler was averaging 20.1 points and 6.0 rebounds. He was named to the all-defensive second team last season and vowed to play some defense in the Feb. 15 All-Star Game, which would be unusual.

“It's amazing, to tell you the truth. But I've just got to keep going,” Butler told TNT. “I can't settle for just an All-Star Game appearance. There are much bigger and better things that I want, including an NBA championship.”

“I think there's still a lot of work to be done. I've just got to keep going.”

The other East reserves were Cleveland's Kyrie Irving, a trio of Atlanta Hawks — Jeff Teague, Paul Millsap and Al Horford — along with a pair from Miami, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. Wade could be an injury scratch because of a hamstring strain. In that case, he'd likely be replaced by Milwaukee's Brandon Knight or Atlanta's Kyle Korver.

The West reserves included San Antonio's Tim Duncan, Golden State's Klay Thompson, Houston's James Harden, Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge, the Clippers' Chris Paul, along with Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

A couple of controversial snubs were Sacramento's DeMarcus Cousins and Portland's Damien Lillard. One of those players figures to replace Kobe Bryant, an all-star starter out for the year with a torn rotator cuff.

Get the latest Bulls news via Twitter by following @McGrawDHBulls.

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