Pistons grit out win over Bulls in 4OT game
The Bulls put on a rare display Friday at the United Center, playing the second four-overtime game in franchise history and first in 31 years.
Everything went fine until that fourth OT, when the visiting Detroit Pistons scored the first 7 points and hung on for a grueling 147-144 victory.
The Bulls' other four-overtime game was a 156-155 win over Portland on March 16, 1984.
The Bulls produced three 30-point scorers in this one. Jimmy Butler tallied a career-high 43 points, Derrick Rose added 34, while Pau Gasol had 30. The Bulls hadn't done that since Dec. 17, 1996, when Scottie Pippen, Toni Kukoc and Michael Jordan all reached 30.
"Guys were fighting. We thought we had the guys in there that would give us the best opportunity to win the game, with Derrick and Jimmy having it going and Pau out there," Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. "Unfortunately, we didn't get off to a good enough start in that fourth overtime."
The Pistons hit 7 of their 8 shots in the fourth overtime to take control. The Bulls never got back into it until Butler knocked down a 3-pointer to make it 145-144 with 4.7 seconds left. After fouling quickly, Reggie Jackson hit a pair of free throws to set the lead at 3 and Butler was short on a final 3-point attempt.
Detroit center Andre Drummond, who played all of the overtimes with 5 fouls, finished with 33 points and 21 rebounds. Jackson added 31 points for the Pistons.
After the game, the Bulls (15-9) flew to New York and face a challenging back-to-back on Saturday at Madison Square Garden. Butler logged 56 minutes and Rose 53.
"The big thing is, we have to put it behind us," Hoiberg said. "Obviously, we've got to play another game tomorrow in New York. We have to put this behind us and go out and compete. Guys played a lot of minutes tonight. But we've got to find a way to go out there tomorrow and not let how this one ended affect how we play."
The game turned on free throws for most of the night. The Pistons are ranked last in the NBA in free-throw percentage at .668, mostly because Drummond shoots a miserable 36.8 percent at the foul line.
The Bulls hit their first 20 free throws of night before Taj Gibson missed in the third quarter. The Bulls finished 39-for-44 at the foul line, compared to 27 of 46 for Detroit.
The teams matched baskets in the first overtime, with the Pistons always scoring first, until Gasol missed a free throw with 21.4 seconds left, leaving the Bulls down by 1. Jackson returned the favor by missing at the foul line a few seconds later. The Bulls tied it with 3.8 seconds remaining on a wide-open lay in by Gasol off a pass from Butler.
The Bulls grabbed 7 offensive rebounds in the second overtime and went up 121-117 on a Butler jumper with 1:28 left. But Marcus Morris and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope drilled consecutive 3-pointers to tie the score with 36.9 seconds remaining and both teams missed chances at the end.
The third overtime also saw the Bulls build a 4-point lead. Drummond tied it on a lay in with 1:36 left and neither team scored the rest of the way.
The teams went back and forth during the fourth quarter. Detroit took a 92-87 lead with 4:52 left on a Marcus Morris 3-pointer. After the Bulls tied it up, the Pistons went ahead 96-92 with 3:33 remaining on a couple of Jackson runners.
The Bulls tied the score twice, then took a 103-102 lead on Tony Snell's first basket of the night, a 3-pointer with 51.1 seconds left.
Ersan Ilyasova split a pair of free throws to tie the score. Gasol free throws put the Bulls back ahead, but Drummond hit a lay in to tie the score with 18.4 seconds left and Rose missed a 17-foot jumper just before the buzzer.
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Scouting report
Bulls vs. New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, 6:30 tonight.
TV: WGN
Radio: ESPN 1000-AM
Outlook: This is the Bulls' first look of the season at New York and impressive 7-foot-3 rookie Kristaps Porzingis. Heading into Friday's games, Porzingis was averaging 13.5 ppg, the league's No. 3 rookie scorer behind Karl Anthony Towns and Jahlil OKafor. Porzingis was second among rookies in rebounds with 8.3. Carmelo Anthony leads the Knicks at 21.7 ppg, followed by SG Arron Afflalo with 13.6. New York is a relatively low-scoring team at 97.7 ppg. The Bulls went 3-0 against the Knicks last season.
Next: Brooklyn Nets at the United Center on Monday, 7 p.m.
- Mike McGraw