Gordon gives Pistons boost off bench

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Ben Gordon came back quickly from a sprained left ankle to play against the Bulls in Chicago on Dec. 2. Apparently it was too soon.

He ended up sitting out nine games to get his ankle healthy. His second meeting with the Bulls on Thursday was his third game back.

"I definitely did (come back too early)," Gordon said before the game. "I was still out there limping. It's still not all the way there, but it's feeling a lot better than it was before."

Detroit's free-agent addition came off the bench Thursday, while Rodney Stuckey and Richard Hamilton started at guard. Gordon provided his usual boost, hitting 7 of 16 shots for 21 points.

"I'm still excited to play anytime against the Bulls," said Gordon, the Bulls' leading scorer the past four years. "Seeing my old teammates out there is always going to be fun. It will be good to see Kirk (Hinrich) out there.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to play well against my former teammates and get a win against them. I'm sure they feel the same."

Arm passes test: Tyrus Thomas fell onto his chest early in the fourth quarter, bracing himself with both arms. He grimaced, shook his left arm and seemed to be in pain for the next few minutes.

This was Thomas' third game back after recovering from a broken left arm, suffered in a weight-room accident on Nov. 6. He seemed to recover quickly from Thursday's fall. Not long after, he dribbled left and found Brad Miller for a layup. Before the game ended, he hit a rare left-handed runner.

"It's just the muscles are a little sore, not where the break was," he said. "I still don't have 100 percent range of motion, so I'm guessing until I get that back, it will be a little sore."

Sales pitch declined: His job security is a popular topic of discussion back home, but Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro wasn't interested in promoting his own cause before facing the Pistons.

"That's not my decision to make," he said. "I have a lot of confidence, not only in myself, but my staff, I think has done a tremendous job. They're very experienced. They've been around. I'm just going to keep on making sure we're prepared as best we can and try to move in the right direction."

Vinny likes to help: Asked to reflect on his personal memories of 2009, coach Vinny Del Negro looked back on work he did to help others.

"I've had my career," he said. "My job now is to help those guys have successful careers. That's the responsibility - to be the leader, have a vision and help them get better. When I see the development of some of them and what they're doing this year, that probably makes me feels as good as anything."

Bull horns: Joakim Noah recorded his fourth 20-rebound game of the season, his third in the last eight contests. - Pistons guard Will Bynum, a Chicago native, missed his second game with two sore ankles. - According to the Pistons television broadcast, Ben Wallace led the NBA in blocked shots during the decade.