Hughes scores 25 in Bulls shocker
CLEVELAND -- The Bulls are tough to figure out, even at the tail end of the season with virtually nothing left to play for.
Just when fans were beginning to wonder how long guard Larry Hughes should remain in the starting lineup, he turned in his best game since joining the Bulls, piling up 25 points and 9 rebounds against his former team, the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Even so, the Bulls seemed ready to mail this one to LeBron James' post-office box after falling behind by 17 points with four minutes left in the third quarter.
But somehow the Bulls mounted a rally, took the lead with just under two minutes remaining, then repelled the Cavaliers on four straight possessions to pull out an unlikely 101-98 victory on Thursday.
"I think it says a lot about our guys," coach Jim Boylan said. "I was really proud with the way we fought and got contributions from a lot of different people."
James scored 33 points, but went 0-for-5 from the field and scored just 1 point in the fourth quarter, playing mostly against second-year Bulls guard Thabo Sefolosha. James was bothered by back spasms during the game and went into the tunnel to get stretched out early in the fourth.
The Cavaliers (42-34) had the ball with 27 seconds remaining trailing by 1. James drove to the left side and pulled up for a baseline jumper, but Bulls rookie Joakim Noah got a piece of the shot and it bounced harmlessly off the front rim.
"Thabo did a great job," Noah said. "We were trying to give him nothing easy. When he gets a little head of steam, he's really tough. He drove to the basket and I just wanted to help and affect the shot. I got a little piece of the ball."
Hughes grabbed the rebound, leading to a pair of Ben Gordon free throws with 3.4 seconds on the clock. Cavs guard Daniel Gibson missed an open look at a potential tying 3-pointer just before the final buzzer.
The Bulls shot 63 percent from the field in the second half. Gordon (24 points) and Luol Deng (15 points) both hit 7 of 11 shots from the field.
Former teammate Ben Wallace helped out the Bulls in the fourth quarter by missing a pair of free throws, then banging an open dunk off the front rim with 2:24 remaining. Whoever operated the sound system inside the arena sounded the Big Ben bong, then cut it off quickly.
After being down by 17, the Bulls finally tied the score at 96-96 with 3:57 remaining, then took a 99-98 lead when Gordon was fouled outside the 3-point line and buried all 3 free throws with 1:42 on the clock.
Hughes had not played well since being traded to the Bulls on Feb. 21. Prior to Thursday when he hit 11 of 17 shots from the field, he was shooting 37 percent in a Bulls uniform.
The 6-foot-5 guard said he's been going to the Berto Center at night to help end his slump and tries to get up 500 shots a night.
"I'm just trying to find my way," he said. "Being in the hotel, there's nothing else to do. So I go over there and get some shots up. It's definitely going to pay off. I'm not really satisfied. You want to be consistent. I think once the minutes become consistent, I'll be fine."