Wade gets 10,000th point as Heat beat Bulls 95-87
MIAMI - With the Bulls nursing a 1-point lead late in Sunday's matchup against the Miami Heat, Derrick Rose drove into the lane and seemed to have a good look at a shot but dished it off instead to teammate Luol Deng, who missed a jumper.
On the next possession, Rose got all the way to the basket and put up a driving bank shot that barely rattled off the rim.
During the final 1:30, he misfired again from close range and a couple of misconnections with teammates resulted in turnovers.
Rose is back on the court after missing most of preseason with an ankle injury, but clearly he's still not himself.
That's one reason why the Bulls messed up a winnable game, dropping a 95-87 decision to the Heat at American Airlines Arena.
The Bulls (1-2) led for most of the night and held an 83-82 advantage with three minutes remaining before Miami finished on a 13-4 run.
Rose wasn't the only errant shooter. The Bulls made just 6 of 21 attempts in the fourth quarter (29 percent).
They knocked down 2 of 12 shots from 3-point range overall in the game, which sent their season 3-point percentage plummeting to .163 (7-for-43).
"We had some open looks, didn't knock them down," coach Vinny Del Negro said. "We had an opportunity on the road, didn't capitalize down the stretch."
Rose said his ankle continues to feel better ever day, but he's still recovering from his three-week vacation while waiting for the injury to heal.
"I missed a lot of layups," Rose said. "Tomorrow or whenever, I'm going back to my Memphis days, shooting a whole gang of layups. I've got to get back in my rhythm. We had the game and let it slip."
There were several times Sunday when Rose exploded to the basket with the force that made him famous as a rookie, but he's not doing it consistently.
He also missed a majority of his outside jumpers.
"It's just (from) not playing," Rose said. "It's like in the summer. It takes you a month to get in condition; you take two days off and you're out of condition. It's crazy, but I took two weeks off without really running on the court and it's hurting me right now."
Deng (26 points) and John Salmons (17) bounced back from rough games in Boston on Friday. But another weak spot for the Bulls was the bench.
While Dwyane Wade (25 points) was largely quiet down the stretch, teammates Udonis Haslem and Carlos Arroyo combined to hit 14 of 20 shots for 31 points. For the Bulls, Kirk Hinrich and Brad Miller made 7 of 21 shots for 18 points.
The Bulls took their last lead at 83-82 on a Salmons' 3-pointer, then missed 5 shots on their next three possessions as Miami went on a 7-0 run, capped by a Quentin Richardson 3-pointer with 1:41 left.
The visitors closed to within 2 by hitting 4 straight free throws. Needing a defensive stop, they closed off Wade, but he found Haslem for an open 16-footer that made it 91-87 with 47.4 seconds remaining.
"We didn't shoot well enough again in the fourth period, especially, to put enough pressure on them," Del Negro said. "We've got to get Derrick back, shoot the ball and play with a little more pace."
<p class="factboxheadblack">Mike McGraw's game tracker</p> <p class="News"><b>Losing a grip:</b> The Bulls led for most of the game and had every opportunity to pull out a win. But they shot just 28.6 percent in the fourth quarter, despite plenty of open looks, and allowed Miami to finish the game on a 13-4 run during the final three minutes.</p> <p class="News"><b>Not blooming:</b> Derrick Rose shows signs of being his explosive, rookie-year self. He's clearly not back to full strength, though, after missing most of the preseason with an ankle injury. He produced just 8 points and hit 4 of 15 shots.</p> <p class="News"><b>Better support:</b> One positive sign was the return of Luol Deng, who scored a game-high 26 points. John Salmons snapped out of his shooting slump to add 17.</p>