Murray, Rose lead Bulls past woeful Pistons
Everywhere he goes in the NBA's Central Division, Flip Murray is playing against one of his old teams.
So the well-traveled veteran guard probably holds no grudges, but he poured in a game-high 23 points to help the Bulls take care of the Detroit Pistons 110-103 on Sunday at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
The Bulls built a 21-point lead early in the third quarter, then watched it dip to 7 a couple of times in the fourth. But Murray helped seal the victory, scoring 3 baskets in a 13-4 run that put things away. Murray's driving layup gave the Bulls a 102-86 advantage with 4:16 remaining.
"That's our team," center Brad Miller said. "We share the ball and we don't know who the hot guy is going to be each night. We can't afford to lose any more games, especially with playing New Jersey last night and Detroit tonight. All we can do now is win."
The victory moved the Bulls (35-38) within a half-game of Toronto for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Raptors lost at Miami 97-94 on Sunday when the Heat finished the game on a 21-7 run.
The Raptors play at Charlotte on Monday night and a loss would create a tie for eighth place with nine games left to play. Toronto already has clinched the season series against the Bulls. The teams face off once more at the Air Canada Centre on April 11.
"I know we have to win games," coach Vinny Del Negro said. "I have to focus in on our next game, Phoenix (on Tuesday). What happens with the other teams, I can't control. If we don't continue to win, it doesn't help us."
Derrick Rose added 21 points for the Bulls and Miller scored 17. The Bulls also got a nice lift off the bench from forward Hakim Warrick, who scored all 14 of his points in the first half.
After sitting out against New Jersey on Saturday because of a partially torn plantar fascia in his right foot, rookie forward James Johnson was back in the starting lineup against Detroit. He played 25 minutes, finishing with 9 points and 5 rebounds.
"I wasn't sure I'd be able to play him the minutes I did, but he was going pretty good," Del Negro said. "Flip was going good in the second half, so I went with him a little more."
Center Joakim Noah, still working his way back into condition after sitting for three weeks because of plantar fasciitis, played in all four quarters on the second leg of back-to-back games. He ended up logging just more than 17 minutes.
Former Bulls guard Ben Gordon had another quiet night for the Pistons, scoring just 3 points in 17 minutes. After signing a five-year, $58-million deal as a free agent last summer, Gordon is averaging a career-low 13.3 points.
"Kind of everything that could go wrong has gone wrong with this season," Gordon told reporters before the game. "Injuries. Just everything. Kind of being in a new system and playing with new guys and a new coach and everything like that.
"It's been tough, but I'm just going to use it as a learning experience and try and get better from it for next year."
Richard Hamilton scored 29 points to lead Detroit, which has lost eight in a row and 15 of 17.
<p class="factboxheadblack">Mike McGraw's game tracker</p>
<p class="News"><b>Winning weekend:</b> For the second straight night, the Bulls took care of business against a low-quality opponent. Detroit lost for the 15th time in 17 games, while ex-Bulls guard Ben Gordon scored 3 points in 14 minutes. What's that all about?</p>
<p class="News"><b>Toronto in trouble: </b>The Bulls moved within a half-game of the final playoff spot in the East because the Raptors couldn't hold an 11-point lead with six minutes left and lost at Miami 97-94.</p>
<p class="News"><b>Sweep dreams:</b> The Bulls swept the season series against Detroit for the first time since 1995-96, the season they won 72 games.</p>