Bulls looking for ways to finish with a victory

Any fans who were thoroughly disgusted by the Bulls' 105-100 loss to the lowly New York Knicks on Tuesday were not alone.

"We're playing like a below-average team," guard Chris Duhon said following Wednesday's practice at the Berto Center.

"We're much better than that. We're a team capable of winning 10-11 straight games. We've just got to be consistent with our effort and energy and then our focus down the stretch."

The loss seemed inexplicable, considering that the Bulls led by 13 points early in the fourth quarter, while the Knicks had lost seven in a row and were 1-13 on the road this season.

Then again, it was easy to see what went wrong down the stretch, when the Bulls were outscored 28-10.

New York had four players on the floor who have averaged at least 19 points in a season -- Stephon Marbury, Jamal Crawford, Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph. All four scored multiple baskets in the fourth quarter.

The Bulls countered with Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich, Joe Smith, Tyrus Thomas and Ben Wallace.

Luol Deng missed his second game with an Achilles' injury, while Andres Nocioni was limited by an illness and spent most of the final minutes on the bench.

Smith scored 6 points in the fourth quarter but didn't take a shot in the final 5:15 after his turnaround jumper put the Bulls ahead 98-91. So when Gordon went 1-for-6 from the field in the final quarter, the Bulls were pretty much out of options. They were outscored 10-0 during the final 4:17.

"We were already a team that struggles offensively when we have everybody healthy," Gordon said. "To not have two of our main scorers made it a lot more difficult. It was still a winnable game, even though we were undermanned, and we just didn't get it done."

Bulls coach Jim Boylan recognized in hindsight there were several moves he might have done differently. But he believed the biggest fourth-quarter flaw was how the Bulls stopped moving the ball.

"We need player movement. We need ball movement," Boylan said. "We need to shift the defense around. When we do that, we get good opportunities. Last night, I felt like the last three or four minutes, we got away from that. I think if we would have had more ball movement at the end of the game, Joe would have gotten a few more touches."

Finishing close games has not been a strength of the Bulls. In their last four home games, they've lost twice in overtime and suffered Tuesday's meltdown. During the final 4:17 against the Knicks, the Bulls had 2 turnovers and 5 missed shots.

The Bulls appear to be relying too heavily on Gordon down the stretch in close games, and opposing defenses are keying on him. During the first three quarters, Gordon hit 7 of 10 shots against New York.

"I think a lot of times this year down the stretch our offense stops moving," Duhon said. "It seems like we always have to get it to one guy and one guy has to make the play, instead of doing the things we've been doing the whole game, which is moving the ball, everybody getting involved and just letting whoever gets the open shot take it."

Added Gordon: "Things got kind of stagnant toward the end, so I really didn't get in a rhythm. I don't think anybody else did. When I did get my shots, one of them was forced and the other one, I just missed it."