Bulls still trying to solve puzzle

ORLANDO, Fla. - The act of watching a Bulls game might be an appropriate theme for one of those prime-time game shows.

Here's the conflict: The Bulls go on the road, and for long stretches of the game the players look like they've never met before. They seem confused on offense, turn the ball over, take inappropriate shots and, in the case of Monday's trip to Orlando, fall behind by 17 points in both the first and third quarters.

But then the Bulls find a combination that sort of works. They hit a few shots, gain some enthusiasm on defense, and end up losing to the Magic 96-93 after missing 2 shots in the final 12 seconds that could have tied the game.

The question: Good sign or bad sign?

If the contestant needs help, coach Vinny Del Negro always could phone in from an isolated booth to remind everyone that the Bulls have a lot of work to do and have been working hard in practice.

Of course, the flaw to this scenario is there might be no correct answer, unless the contestant has some effective plays that can be worked into the game plan.

"We competed," Bulls center Drew Gooden said. "A couple plays, I think we made some easy mistakes we haven't made all year, which would have kept us in the ballgame. I know if we played the way we're capable of playing, this game would have been to our advantage."

The most untimely of about 100 mistakes might have been Ben Gordon's shot selection on one key possession. After trailing 91-80 with 3:48 remaining, Gordon's baseline fadeaway brought the visitors within 93-92 with 23.7 seconds left.

After Rashard Lewis split 2 free throws, the Bulls had a chance to even the score.

But Gordon dribbled his way into a tough running jumper over Dwight Howard that clanged off the rim. Derrick Rose was able to tap the rebound outside but couldn't keep the ball inbounds.

"We pushed it (with no timeout) and I just rushed the shot," Gordon said. "That was one of the bad decisions down the stretch where I think we could have done something else."

Given another chance, Lewis buried 2 free throws with 10.8 seconds on the clock to put the Magic (2-2) up by 4. The Bulls caught a break, though, when Lewis fouled Andres Nocioni on a 3-point attempt with 4.7 seconds left.

After Nocioni split the first 2 attempts, he missed the third on purpose. Tyrus Thomas tapped the rebound out to Nocioni, who dribbled to the 3-point line and fired up a potential tying shot, but it fell well short of the rim as time expired.

As bad as the offense looked at times, the Bulls (2-2) managed to find four players who shot at least 50 percent from the field. Gooden led with 21 points, followed by Nocioni with 20, Gordon with 17 and Rose with 14.

The Bulls used a three-guard lineup for most of the second half, playing Rose, Gordon and Kirk Hinrich together. Hinrich survived a tough defensive matchup because 6-foot-10 Hedo Turkoglu hit just 3 of 16 shots. Howard had 22 points, 15 rebounds and 5 blocks.

"I'm more happy we kept fighting and kept fighting and trying to find a way to win," Del Negro said. "If we keep on having that attitude and that work ethic, eventually things will fall our way."

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