Bulls come to life and stun Rockets with game-ending 23-3 run

The building seemed too new to make this sort of description before Saturday, but maybe now there are "Ghosts of the United Center."

On a night dedicated to the memories of legends Johnny "Red" Kerr and Norm Van Lier, the Bulls climbed off the canvas and pulled off an unimaginable comeback against the Houston Rockets.

Showing the scrappiness of Van Lier and the eternal optimism of Kerr, the Bulls kept battling even when faced with a 17-point deficit with 5:51 remaining.

Thanks to Derrick Rose and Ben Gordon, who scored 11 points each down the stretch, the Bulls finished the game on a 23-3 run and pulled out a shocking 105-102 victory.

"I was just trying to go, no matter who was in my way," said Rose, who had been sitting out in the fourth quarters of recent games. "I was just trying to go no matter what and try to create something."

There was sobering news after the game, however. X-rays showed that forward Luol Deng has a possible stress fracture in his tibia and could be lost for the season. He'll have an MRI on Monday to further assess the damage. Forward Tim Thomas sat out the second half with what coach Vinny Del Negro called a quad tendon strain in his left leg.

This victory was even more impressive than the Bulls' 15-point, fourth-quarter comeback against Detroit on Feb. 10, when Kerr was honored at halftime.

Rockets forward Ron Artest (32 points) put on a show most of the night and buried a pair of jumpers to send Houston ahead 99-82. Gordon hit a bank shot and pull-up 3-pointer to give the Bulls some life, then Rose scored 6 straight points in the paint and a pair of Gordon free throws closed the margin to 99-95.

That's when Houston (37-22) scored its only points of the final 5:51, a 3-pointer by Artest. Rose answered with a lay in off a pass from Joakim Noah and 3-point play.

Gordon tied the score with 1:08 left by knocking down an 18-foot jumper over Yao Ming's outstretched hand. After Luis Scola missed a jumper on the other end, Rose gave the Bulls their first lead of the night by draining a runner in the lane with 32.1 seconds left.

Artest missed a pair of 3-point shots and after Noah (15 rebounds) ripped the carom away from Yao, John Salmons hit 1 of 2 free throws to make it 105-102 with 11.1 seconds on the clock. Artest's final lean-in 3-point attempt was blocked by Salmons.

After the final horn, Artest lingered on the court complaining to the referees. As an assistant coach and veteran teammate Dikembe Mutombo tried to talk him into the locker room, Artest grew more agitated and unleashed a string of profanities once he got inside the tunnel.

"I take the blame for this loss," Artest said in the locker room. "Give them all the credit. Derrick Rose stepped up and took control. Yes, I was fouled at the end. It was a bad no-call, but that wasn't what beat us."

An unsung hero of the comeback was center Brad Miller, who managed to prevent Yao from touching the ball on offense in the final minutes. Both centers had 5 fouls at the time.

"When he gets touches down there, being 7-6, it makes it tough on your defense because a lot of times you're doubling and everything," Miller said. "It was like, 'Just front the heck out of him.'

"I didn't even remotely care about the other end, just put every last ounce of energy I had into doing the best I could to fight him and battle him."