Bulls 'run in circles' in embarrassing loss
Dwight Howard is built like an NFL linebacker, but a foot taller. The Orlando center leads the NBA in rebounds, blocked shots and free-throw attempts.
But during a stop in the action late in the first quarter Wednesday, Howard was whining like Meadowlark Lemon to referee Eli Roe about Joakim Noah's defense.A
"He's holding me. He's holding me," Howard implored.
When play resumed, Howard climbed Thabo Sefolosha's back to pull down an offensive rebound and was thrown to the ground by Andres Nocioni, resulting in a trip to the foul line.
That sequence was an appropriate snapshot of the New Year's Eve matinee at the United Center. The Bulls were not only badly outmanned by visiting Orlando, they were often frustrated by foul calls and played miserably to boot.
The result was a forgettable start-to-finish 113-94 blowout, though Orlando's lead was closer to 30 points much of the day. No doubt if a vote had been taken inside the jam-packed arena, skipping the fourth quarter would have won by a wide margin.
"The most disappointing thing is that there was a game today," coach Vinny Del Negro said. "It just seemed like we were running in circles today. Our energy was not good, for whatever reason."
There was one moment when the Bulls (14-18) had the upper hand in this game, when Aaron Gray won the opening tip against Howard. Less than three minutes later, Gray was on the bench with 2 fouls and was given a technical for squawking about the second infraction, when he took a Howard elbow to the chin.
The extent of the Bulls' cold shooting was mind-boggling. They might have fared better shooting outdoors at Wrigley Field.
In the first half, the home team went 2-for-20 on all shots from 15 feet and beyond. There was a 21-minute gap between Derrick Rose's 19-footer at the 10:04 mark of the first quarter and Lindsey Hunter's 3-pointer with 1:10 left in the half.
Early in the third quarter, Del Negro subbed four of the five starters on the floor and the new lineup managed to trim a 33-point deficit to 23, until back-to-back 3-pointers by Hedo Turkoglu and rookie Courtney Lee quickly ended the momentum.
"I didn't see anything good happening out there," Del Negro said. "Guys are always wanting minutes. Well, this is a great opportunity, when you have two starters (Drew Gooden and Luol Deng) out, to come out and play like you deserve them. I don't think anybody today gave us much."
The one exception was Noah, who produced a career-high 19 points and led the Bulls in scoring for the first time. He also grabbed 11 rebounds and tried his best to slow down Howard (15 points, 14 boards).
"It's kind of embarrassing to lose that way," Noah said. "It's not an individual sport, it's a team sport. We got booed by our home crowd, so there's really not that much to be happy about. I thought I played pretty well, but it wasn't enough."
Orlando's lead was at least 20 points from the 7:35 mark of the second quarter until Noah scored the game's final basket with 45.3 seconds left. Rashard Lewis led seven Magic players in double figures with 21 points.
In the previous two games, the Bulls hit 23 of 44 shots from 3-point range. In this one, they were ice cold until knocking down 4 of 5 in the fourth quarter.
Orlando had a seven-game winning streak snapped by Detroit on Monday and was ready for the early start. They jumped to a 30-point halftime lead at home against New Orleans on Christmas Day.
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