Bulls came close to NBA shooting mark

The NBA schedule sent the Bulls to Milwaukee for the Bucks' first and last regular-season games. In the initial visit back on Nov. 3, the stumbling Bulls lost 78-72 and shot 35 percent from the field.

During Monday's return to Wisconsin, the Bulls surpassed 72 points at the 1:46 mark of the second quarter. Defense was certainly discouraged in the Bulls' 151-135 victory at the Bradley Center.

"There was definitely a lack of defense," said Luol Deng, who hit 15 of 20 shots for a season-high 32 points. "We still won. It's better to win a game like that than lose it."

Only two teams in NBA history have shot better than 70 percent for an entire game. One was the Bulls, who connected on 70.5 percent of their attempts at Golden State in 1981.

With 8:38 remaining in Monday's contest, after Ben Gordon drilled back-to-back 3-pointers, the Bulls were at 71.3 percent (57-for-80) and on pace for the all-time record.

That's when the cold spell hit. Over the final eight minutes, the Bulls hit just 6 of 14 shots. That's good under normal conditions, but in this case dropped the visitors to an even 67 percent for the game.

Here's an interesting bit of minutiae: The Bulls started the game going 3-for-10 and finished hitting 6 of their last 14 shots. That means from the mid-first quarter to mid-fourth quarter, they knocked down 54 of 70 shots, an astonishing 77 percent.

Beyond that, the Bulls were credited with just 50 points in the paint and made a relatively few 14 free throws. That means the vast majority of their points came on outside jumpers.

"It was a fun game," said Chris Duhon, who hit 8 of 9 shots for 22 points. "It just seemed like everybody was hot today. It was kind of like an all-star game out there. There was pretty much no defense being played."

This was the fifth 150-point game in team history and the first since a 155-127 home win over Phoenix on Dec. 4, 1990, the most points ever by the Bulls in a regulation game.

The highest-scoring game in franchise history was a 156-155 win at Portland in four overtimes on March 16, 1984. Quintin Dailey led the Bulls with 33 points that night, while John Paxson's brother, Jim, scored 41 for the Blazers.

Duhon finishing strong: Fourth-year guard Chris Duhon will be a free agent this summer, and tonight's game against Toronto may be the last time he puts on a Bulls uniform.

After finishing with 22 points, 15 assists and a two-handed breakaway dunk in Monday's win at Milwaukee, Duhon didn't fret about his future.

"I'm just going out and playing," he said. "I'm not thinking about the off-season. All that will take care of itself."

Added coach Jim Boylan, who also may not stay in his job beyond tonight's game: "C-Du definitely belongs in the NBA, there's no doubt about that. He can come in and have these kinds of games. Obviously, he doesn't do that on a daily basis, but he's certainly a guy who can come off your bench and really spark you."

Suspicious payback: Bulls center Aaron Gray refused to discuss a low blow delivered by Milwaukee guard Royal Ivey in the second quarter of Monday's game.

No foul was called on the play, but several Bulls complained to the officials that it was an intentional chop. Gray was down for a couple of minutes following the collision before recovering to finish with 9 points and 4 rebounds.

Bulls fans might recall that Ivey was leveled by a screen Gray set in a Dec. 28 game at the United Center.

Bull horns: Jim Boylan has been rotating able-bodied players onto the inactive list. Demetris Nichols was inactive Sunday against Orlando and Cedric Simmons on Monday in Milwaukee. … The Eastern Conference playoff pairings are set. No. 1 Boston will play No. 8 Atlanta, No. 2 Detroit vs. No. 7 Philadelphia, No. 3 Orlando vs. No. 6 Toronto and for the third straight year in the first round, No. 4 Cleveland vs. No. 5 Washington.