Bulls not in charge as Bucks rally to win
MILWAUKEE - Catching breaks on the road hasn't been a Bulls specialty lately.
That was obvious Friday in Milwaukee when an opponent drained a half-court shot at the third-quarter buzzer for the second straight game. Bucks guard Luke Ridnour did the honors this time.
The Bulls had things going their way and built a 76-69 lead with 8:35 remaining, but it all unraveled in a nightmarish stretch of bad breaks and questionable calls down the stretch.
The Bucks turned the tables with a 19-4 run, then went to the foul line 13 times in the final six minutes and hit a couple of backbreaking shots down the stretch to beat the Bulls 96-93 at the Bradley Center.
"The difference between winning and losing is just so small," said Bulls center Joakim Noah, who had 18 rebounds. "(Michael) Redd hit some tough shots, we gave up a couple of offensive rebounds, we missed a couple free throws. We had a couple calls go against us. That charge at the end of the game on Derrick (Rose) was crazy."
After everything the Bulls had gone through, including a 91-84 deficit with 1:59 left, they had a chance to tie it when Rose pushed the ball upcourt in the final minute. He crashed into a backpedaling Andrew Bogut and a charge was called with 33.4 seconds remaining.
"I thought that he was moving, but we've got to go with whatever the refs say it is and they said it was an offensive charge," Rose said. "I wish I could play right now. I'm ready to go again."
The Bulls (14-20) had one more chance to tie the game, but a Luol Deng 3-pointer bounced off the rim just before time expired.
During the fourth-quarter comeback, Milwaukee (15-18) first turned to an old favorite, Redd, who scored 11 points in five possessions. The Bucks also shot free throws on six straight trips.
After Redd forced up a baseline shot over Noah and Deng, referee John Goble whistled a shooting foul, then immediately hit Noah with a technical for complaining about the call.
The technical free throw tied the score, then Redd hit 1 of 2 to put Milwaukee ahead for good at 80-79 with 4:27 left.
The Bulls shot plenty of free throws, too, but missed 4 of 14 in the fourth quarter. Rose (25 points, 9 assists) clanked a pair with 3:35 left, then had a layup attempt blocked out of bounds by Bogut. Rose erupted in disbelief as the Bucks were awarded the ball out of bounds, and Bogut hit a driving lay in to give the home team an 88-80 lead with 3:01 left.
The Bulls tried to fight back, but Milwaukee kept coming up with big baskets. Charlie Bell's 3-pointer made it 91-84 with 1:59 left and a Redd jumper kept the lead at 5.
Brad Miller's 3-pointer brought the Bulls within 93-91 and a blocked shot gave the Bulls had a chance to tie, but Rose was called for the charge.
Needing a defensive stop, the Bulls had Redd trapped near the sideline. He managed to find a cutting Bell, who tossed up an airball from 10 feet. But while Deng and John Salmons jumped to block the shot, Hakim Warrick caught the ball in the air and dunked it, putting Milwaukee up 95-91 with 10.1 seconds left.
"The only thing I was concerned with was that we fought, even throughout the bad calls or whatever, whatever the refs were calling," Rose said. "We were just fighting and playing hard. They were making shots, running good play sets down the stretch and getting to the line."
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<li><a href="/story/?id=349644">Hinrich, Thomas mix it up with Warrick, Bogut<span class="date"> [1/08/10]</span></a></li>
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