Bulls' comeback runs out of gas in Detroit
It wasn't exactly business as usual for the Bulls on Tuesday in Detroit.
Rajon Rondo was back in the starting lineup after sitting out a one-game suspension. Playing the second leg of back-to-back games and their fourth in five nights, the Bulls got off to a sluggish start, but this time showed enough life to erase a 17-point deficit.
Where this one returned to familiar territory was the scoring distribution. Jimmy Butler piled up 32 points, Dwyane Wade scored 19 and the Bulls got very few contributions off the bench. The Pistons survived the comeback by winning the fourth quarter and beat the Bulls 102-91 at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
The Bulls (11-10) have now lost three in a row since beating Eastern Conference leader Cleveland last Friday. They got 11 points off the bench, led by Nikola Mirotic with five.
"I'm proud of our fight, the way we battled back from a 17-point deficit to come back and take that lead," Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg told reporters after the contest. "Like we've talked about a lot, we've got to quit digging ourselves a hole. It takes too much energy to dig yourself out of it."
It takes even more energy when the Bulls rely on two players to do most of the scoring. Taj Gibson finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Rondo scored 10 in his return to action.
Butler played 43 minutes, hitting 11 of 21 shots from the field and all 10 of his free throws. Wade, who has rested during back-to-backs twice this season, played 34 minutes.
"Right now, we had to ride him," Hoiberg said of Butler. "For us to have the best chance to win that game, it felt like we had to have him on the floor. We had constant communication with him. He felt great, said, 'Keep me out here coach. I feel good.' Unfortunately, we couldn't quite get it done."
Rondo was suspended by the Bulls for "conduct detrimental to the team." According to numerous sources, it stemmed from a verbal altercation with assistant coach Jim Boylen during Saturday's loss at Dallas.
The Bulls are hoping to get two valuable reserves, Doug McDermott and Michael Carter-Williams, back from injuries soon. McDermott is a possibility to play Thursday against San Antonio. For now, the lack of help from the bench seems to be a constant issue.
"The big thing is to just continue to try to pump them up with confidence," Hoiberg said. "That's the biggest thing right now. We've got to find a way."
Because the Pistons use some big centers, Hoiberg used Cristiano Felicio on Tuesday instead of Bobby Portis.
Detroit (12-11) used a 13-0 run spanning the first and second quarters to take an early 38-21 advantage. The Bulls scored the final 10 points of the first half and first 6 of the third quarter to close within 51-50.
The Bulls led at the end of three and when Mirotic started the fourth with a 3-pointer, they held a 75-71 edge. That's when the gas tank hit empty. The Pistons scored the next 12 points and the Bulls never recovered.
"We talked about this adversity. We're hitting rough patch right now and you've got to find a way to fight through that," Hoiberg said. "It's what's going to define our team this year is how we handle these adverse situations. You've got to keep fighting. You've got to trust each other. We've got a lot of home games coming up."
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