When we last left the Bulls, the perenially positive radio team of Chuck Swirsky and Bill Wennington were awarding the game ball to the listeners who had just suffered through their broadcast of an ugly blowout loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Things had to get better Saturday when the Bulls hosted lowly Minnesota at the United Center, right?

Wrong.

A less-than-marquee matchup started ugly - no points scored by anyone through the first 4:15 of the game - and ended even uglier for the Bulls, who fought back gallantly to take a 1-point lead midway through the fourth quarter only to stand by and watch as the T-Wolves outfought, outrebounded, outgunned and outhustled them down the stretch for a 102-92 victory, just their eighth win against 25 losses.

"You guys should be embarrassed; this is the worst team in the league," one fan yelled above the boos as the UC cleared out in the final minute.

He got no argument from a sullen bunch in the Bulls locker room.

"It's not because we have some people out with injuries," said Andres Nocioni, whose 3-point shooting put the Bulls back in the game late. "I think it's because we're not playing enough of the 'D' to win. We're not stopping the people in the last five minutes when we need to stop people.

"I don't think we need excuses. It's not about the coaches, it's not about the administration, the Chicago Bulls; it's about us as players. We need to react, play harder, try to win games and try to be better every night.

"Every player needs to think about what we need to do to win ... and that's it."

Just as has been the case most of the season, the Bulls weren't able to contain their opponents' big guys. The T-Wolves outscored the Bulls 28-8 on second-chance points thanks in part to a whopping 17 offensive boards.

"Not a real strong suit for us tonight," said Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro.

The loss was the third straight for the Bulls and their sixth in their last seven games.

"We've got a lot of work to do," said veteran guard Lindsey Hunter. "We've got a lot of growing up to do. We're getting better in some areas, but we've just got to learn how to finish games."

In a first half of very few highlights, the out-of-the-gym play of Tyrus Thomas (5 blocks, 9 points) and the more down to earth play of Aaron Gray (8 points, 8 rebounds) led the way.

In the second half, it was Nocioni (11 points) and Derrick Rose (18) sparking the comeback. Rose, who finished with a game-high 22, is really struggling with this losing thing.

"It's tough," he said. "You're going to lose games, but it's how you handle it."

Randy Foye led the T-Wolves with 21 points, followed by Ryan Gomes with 19 and Al Jefferson and Kevin Love with 18 apiece.

"They've been battling hard of late," Minnesota coach Kevin McHale said. "You're going to see some interesting stuff with young guys out there. Tonight they went out there and fought."

Give em all the game ball.