Boylan apologizes after Wizards erase a 20-point deficit
The Bulls started out Friday night by flashing back to one of last season's performances. They jumped all over a wounded opponent and made sure the outcome was settled by halftime.
There was one problem, though. These still are the fragile, undisciplined, defensively soft Bulls of this season.
So after jumping to a 52-32 lead in the final minute of the first half, the Bulls folded like flamingos and suffered a ghastly, inexplicable 97-91 loss to the Washington Wizards amid a chorus of boos at the United Center.
When the defeat was complete, Bulls coach Jim Boylan declared it a municipal disgrace.
"We embarrassed the organization and the city of Chicago tonight," Boylan said with disgust. "I apologize for that. It's just a tough loss for us to swallow."
The first seven minutes of the third quarter could be submitted for consideration as the worst stretch of basketball played by any team in any league this season. While being scorched for a 22-1 run, the Bulls went 0-for-9 from the field with 7 turnovers.
"We got what we deserved tonight," Boylan added. "We thought we had the game won at halftime."
Washington (28-30) was far from full strength, playing without leading scorer Caron Butler (hip flexor strain). In addition, Antawn Jamison missed 11 of his first 12 shots, shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson was ejected in the second quarter for arguing a call, and Gilbert Arenas hasn't played since Nov. 16.
The Bulls struggled badly under the basket. Six-foot-11 forward Andray Blatche came off the bench to score 17 points, tying Jamison and ex-Bull Roger Mason for team honors.
On the Bulls' front line, Drew Gooden fouled out with 5 points and 6 rebounds. Joakim Noah turned his ankle in the first quarter, then returned to the court and grabbed 4 rebounds. Tyrus Thomas played just nine minutes after picking up some early fouls.
"It's frustrating," Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich said. "It's kind of been the story of the year. We play good a game, then bad a game; good for a half, then bad for a half. We play great defense one game and not be able to make a shot."
Once the Bulls fell behind 75-68, Andres Nocioni (19 points) tried to awaken his teammates. He hammered home an impressive dunk over 7-foot Oleksiy Pecherov and drilled a couple of late 3-pointers. But even after the Bulls took an 84-83 lead with 3:35 left, more failures were in store.
With the score tied, Wizards guard Antonio Daniels hit the first of 2 free throws, then Darius Songaila outjumped Luol Deng to tip in the miss.
A legitimate bad bounce finally sealed the Bulls' fate. Nocioni's 3-pointer made it 93-91 with 39.9 seconds left. On the other end, Larry Hughes deflected a Washington pass, but as Nocioni tried to control the ball, Songaila took a swipe and somehow knocked it right to Jamison under the basket. His layup and 3-point play with 27 seconds left ended all suspense.
Hughes got his first start since joining the Bulls because Thabo Sefolosha sat out with a groin injury. Hughes hit 5 of 16 shots for 16 points. Ben Gordon, meanwhile, made 2 of 9 shots for 6 points.
"That's something we have to work on as a team, the coaches included," Hughes said. "We all have to pull together when things start going the wrong way, figure out the quickest way to turn things around."