Late flagrant foul helps Bulls spike Nets
John Salmons never played football when he was younger, but now he knows what it feels like to be grabbed around the neck and thrown to the ground inches short of the goal line.
In fact, that takedown by New Jersey guard Devin Harris might have been the Bulls' biggest break in an unnecessarily tense 103-94 victory over the Nets at the United Center on Saturday afternoon.
After squandering a 16-point lead, the Bulls led by 1 when Salmons had a short bank shot blocked by Nets rookie Ryan Anderson.
Harris dribbled back upcourt with a chance to give the Nets the lead, but Salmons crept up from behind and tapped the ball into the hands of Bulls guard Derrick Rose.
Salmons then caught a long pass from Rose and was basically tackled by Harris, who was trying to prevent the easy layup. After an officials' conference, the play was ruled a flagrant foul.
"I didn't feel he was trying to do what he did on purpose, but it happened," Salmons said.
"I've seen worse," Harris countered. "You can't really do anything about it now. I didn't think it was that hard of a foul. Obviously, they know I'm going to try to grab him at that point, but what can you do?"
Salmons hit 1 of 2 free throws with 1:03 remaining and by rule, the Bulls retained possession. Ben Gordon took the inbound pass and decided points were more important than clock management. With 21 seconds on the shot clock, Gordon drained a clutch 3-pointer to put the Bulls up 99-94 with 58.2 seconds left.
"(Coach Vinny Del Negro) said, 'Get the first good look you can.' If not, we had another option," Gordon said. "I came off (the screen), it felt good and knocked it down."
Gordon was off-target most of the game. He missed his first 10 shots and didn't connect until the 9:11 mark of the fourth quarter. But despite going 3-for-14 from the field, Gordon still led the Bulls with 18 points thanks to a pair of 3-pointers and 10 free throws.
"Yeah, I planned that," he joked. "I wanted to make it exciting. I wanted to get the Big Mac for the fans. It was all part of my master plan."
A flurry of points by Nets rookie center Brook Lopez (20 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks) sent the visitors ahead 94-93 with 2:51 remaining. Then while the Bulls sent double teams at Lopez, the Nets missed three good looks before the flagrant foul.
"We're capable of beating the best teams and we're also capable of losing to the worst teams," said Bulls center Joakim Noah. "We've just got to come with the right mindset every day and we'll be all right."
Coupled with Detroit's loss in Philadelphia, Saturday's victory sent the Bulls (37-40) back into seventh place in the East, a half-game ahead of the Pistons (36-40). Ninth-place Charlotte is 2 games behind Detroit and those teams meet tonight at the Palace.