Bulls' lose 97-90 after late charge comes up short

MILWAUKEE - When Ben Gordon became scorching hot in the third quarter Wednesday night in Milwaukee, the Bucks had no answer.

But when the Bulls tried to complete a frantic comeback late in the fourth quarter, ex-Bulls coach Scott Skiles knew what was coming. He kept enough long arms inside the paint to bother Derrick Rose's drives to the basket and Milwaukee held on for a 97-90 victory at the Bradley Center.

While the Bucks snapped a four-game losing streak, the Bulls (8-11) fell to 0-2 since returning home from a relatively successful circus road trip.

Gordon knocked down 7 straight shots and scored his team's final 15 points of the third quarter to trim a 15-point deficit to 76-72 at the end of three.

But as soon as Gordon cooled off - he missed his first attempt of the fourth quarter - the Bucks went back on the attack. Forward Charlie Villanueva (23 points) scored 9 straight points to put the home team up 91-77 with 5:45 remaining.

"It was good to get hot, but it wasn't enough," said Gordon, who was 1-for-10 from the field before his scoring spree. "It seemed like as a team we ran out of gas in the fourth quarter."

Rose tried to bring the Bulls back and converted a pair of 3-point plays on drives to the hoop. The second closed the gap to 93-88 with 1:56 remaining.

The Bulls got the ball back after an offensive foul, but Rose's runner over Milwaukee center Dan Gadzuric bounced around the rim and out. With the score 95-90 in the final minute, another Rose drive was blocked by Gadzuric.

"A little bump, but I can't complain about it," Rose said of his final attempt. "They didn't call it, so no excuses from me. That's going to be with any team now. They're just going to wait for me, knowing that I'm a driver. I've just got to get used to it."

Gadzuric was monster inside, finishing with 11 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks. He scored Milwaukee's final 4 points off offensive rebounds.

The Bucks started the night with a 7-12 record, but a single statistic showed how much progress Skiles has made with his new team. Milwaukee ranked ninth in the league in defensive field-goal percentage at .446 heading into Wednesday's action. Last season the Bucks were tied for last in the category with Memphis at .480.

Rose would like to see the Bulls make a similar effort.

"We've got to go in the gym and just think about nothing but defense," Rose said. "We're a running team. We can't run if you've got to keep taking the ball out (of bounds after a made basket). Teams are going to be set."

Milwaukee had guard Michael Redd back in the starting lineup after he missed nearly a month with an ankle injury. Center Andrew Bogut returned from three games off with a knee bruise, but neither player was a huge factor against the Bulls. Bogut sat out the fourth quarter with a migraine.

After piling up 24 turnovers in Tuesday's overtime loss to Philadelphia, the Bulls vowed to be more careful with the ball. But they repeatedly had it slapped out of their hands by Milwaukee defenders, then seemed to get frustrated by the lack of foul calls.

"We've just got to keep working on things and trying to get guys to understand why it's important to move the basketball," Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said. "I thought our defense picked up a little bit in the second half. We've got to get better production from everybody."

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