Bulls can't get the calls - or the W
The San Antonio Spurs scored so ridiculously easy at the start of Saturday's game at the United Center, fans must have been wondering if they'd walked onto the set of an instructional video.
After converting about five different ways off Tim Duncan and Tony Parker screen-and-rolls, the Spurs clamped down defensively and pulled ahead 24-11 while the Bulls missed 7 consecutive shots.
At that point, the prognosis did not look promising for the Bulls pulling off their first three-game winning streak since April 2007.
But the Bulls did make a stand, erasing a 9-point fourth-quarter deficit to take the lead with just over three minutes remaining. But some vintage Spurs defense turned things around late, and San Antonio escaped with a 92-87 victory.
"They executed down the stretch and we didn't," Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said. "If we play that hard and make some adjustments, that's definitely an improvement for us."
Drew Gooden's lane hook and 3-point play put the Bulls ahead 82-81 with 3:13 left. When they got the ball back, the home team had two chances to build on the lead but missed difficult shots both times.
Parker's spinning drive put San Antonio (26-13) back ahead with 1:41 left. Then after Andres Nocioni dribbled into trouble and threw the ball away, Manu Ginobili (21 points) canned a deflating 3-point shot that made it 86-82 with 1:04 remaining.
The Bulls (18-23) found a couple of hot shooters in Ben Gordon (20 points) and Nocioni (17 points). But it was a frustrating night for rookie guard Derrick Rose, who repeatedly drove to the basket and never went to the foul line despite hoisting 21 field-goal attempts.
A common sight lately has been Rose knifing through traffic, missing a difficult shot, then looking in dismay for a foul call that never arrives.
"(My teammates tell me) just fight through it," Rose said. "Arguing? I'm a rookie, I can't say nothing. They (referees) look at me; they'll probably curse me out. So I'll just keep my mouth closed and next time try to drive harder."
There weren't many free throws awarded in this game, and the Bulls managed to go from the 5:44 mark of the first quarter until two minutes into the fourth without a single trip to the foul line.
"We've just got to keep attacking the basket," Del Negro said. "We got into the penalty there (with four minutes left in the fourth quarter), and I talked to the guys in the huddle about being aggressive, getting to the basket, but we weren't able to get the calls.
"You've got to fight through that stuff. Usually the aggressive team gets the calls."