Finally a 'W' for Bulls ... and against Pistons
No opponent was better suited to make the Bulls forget about their own problems than the Detroit Pistons.
Who has time to worry about contract extensions, bad starts or Kobe Bryant chants when Detroit's Richard Hamilton is making shoestring tackles and Rasheed Wallace is spending more time in the post than he probably has in a decade?
With plenty of pressing issues to occupy their minds, last season's playoff nemesis became the Bulls' long overdue first victim of this season. The Bulls improved to 1-4 by holding off the Pistons 97-93 on Thursday night at the United Center.
"You know Detroit, we go to the game knowing that something is going to happen," Bulls forward Luol Deng said. "You just feel like someone is going to get a tech, someone is going to argue. The way they play, that's their style. They talk a lot. We've just kept playing."
Hamilton usually is good for at least 1 technical foul against the Bulls. He got one in the third quarter Thursday after having his shot blocked by Tyrus Thomas.
Following a collision on the follow through, Hamilton was on the ground, reached out and grabbed Thomas' shoe, earning a technical for his trouble.
When the teams stuck to basketball, Thomas still was in the middle of everything. The second-year forward finished with 19 points, a career-high 14 rebounds and 2 blocks. Deng added 17 points and Kirk Hinrich piled up 14 assists.
On the other end, Detroit tried to take advantage of Thomas on defense. The taller Wallace took Thomas into the post and scored 36 points, his highest total as a Piston.
"They have no bigs," Wallace said. "That's not taking anything away from their guys. Joe (Smith) just doesn't know their sets yet. Tyrus is really a three (small forward) playing the four (power forward)."
With the game on the line, though, the Bulls made several strong defensive plays while the Pistons attacked the post relentlessly.
Detroit (3-1) had two chances to take the lead in the final 1:35. Clinging to a 94-93 edge, Ben Gordon blocked a shot by Chauncey Billups in the post, then Wallace missed a turnaround against Thomas with 33.9 seconds left.
"(Billups) made the same move a couple of possessions before," said Gordon, who often is criticized for his defense. "So I kind of anticipated and I was able to get a hand on it. It was a big play for us."
After Gordon hit 1 of 2 free throws to make it 95-93, Wallace missed another turnaround against Thomas that could have tied the score.
Smith hit 1 of 2 foul shots, giving Detroit one more chance to tie. But Hamilton wasn't close on a 3-pointer, and Thomas soared for the rebound and knocked down the clinching free throw with 2.9 seconds on the clock.
Bulls coach Scott Skiles explained that he'd rather deal with Wallace in the post 1-on-1 than leave Detroit's shooters open from long range. The Pistons didn't have any 3-point baskets in the fourth quarter.
"Generally when we play pretty well against the Pistons. We don't give up a lot of 3s," Skiles said. "We made one tonight, so it was important when it got tight that we didn't give up many 3s."
The Bulls finally got off to a good start, leading at the end of one quarter for the first time this season. The advantage grew to as many as 12 points in the second. Detroit rallied to take a brief lead, but the Bulls never trailed in the fourth quarter.