No excuses: Bulls look bad in loss to Nets

By Mike McGraw

mmcgraw@dailyherald.com

The standings boards that hang in two corners of the Bulls’ locker room have been blank since Vinny Del Negro departed as head coach two years ago, so maybe a renovation was in order.

Following Saturday’s surprising 97-85 loss to the New Jersey Nets, the Eastern Conference board, situated between the lockers of Jimmy Butler and John Lucas III, was on the floor.

How it got there is anyone’s guess. But considering how the day went for the Bulls, fit of anger and equipment malfunction both are valid theories.

The Nets walked into the United Center with an eight-game losing streak but stunned every onlooker at the start of the game by taking a 22-3 lead.

A few times it looked like the Bulls were going to settle down and make it a contest. But they never got closer than 7 points late in the second quarter.

The loss ended an 18-game winning streak against opponents that currently have a record below .500 and dropped the Bulls (25-8) behind Miami for the Eastern Conference lead.

“We have a no-excuse policy,” forward Carlos Boozer said. “We just played like (crud) tonight.”

Every NBA team is going to turn in a clunker once in awhile, right? Wrong, corrected Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau.

“No. I think if you believe in preparing yourself for each and every game, you should be ready to go,” Thibodeau said. “You could deal with a tough, hard-fought game where they play well and they make a tough shot at the end. But to dig a hole like we did, it’s disappointing, quite honestly.”

The Nets (9-23) did play very well. They moved the ball, were aggressive defensively and knocked down 10 of 22 shots from 3-point range.

Point guard Deron Williams took full advantage of Derrick Rose missing his fifth straight game because of back spasms. Williams piled up 29 points and 8 assists.

But the Bulls also were badly outplayed on the inside by New Jersey’s Groom Squad. Power forward Kris Humphries (ex-Kardashian) piled up 24 points and 18 rebounds, while Shelden Williams (Mr. Candace Parker) offered 8 points and 14 boards.

Boozer (16 points, 9 rebounds) and Taj Gibson (14 and 9) weren’t bad, but Joakim Noah had no points and 6 rebounds in 21 minutes.

“That was a tough loss today,” Noah said. “We didn’t play well. We’ll be back.”

When the Bulls played at New Jersey on Feb. 6, they jumped to a 35-12 lead in the first quarter and coasted to an easy win. So the Nets essentially turned the tables by hitting 9 of their first 10 shots to build the early 19-point lead.

“Basically, we gave the Bulls a dose of what teams have been giving us all year,” said New Jersey coach Avery Johnson. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen us perform like that on both ends of the floor early in the game.”

The Bulls put themselves in comeback position a few times. Late in the second quarter, they closed within 52-45 and C.J. Watson missed a 3-pointer that could have cut it to 4. Then Deron Williams finished the first half on a personal 7-0 run to make it 59-45.

Late in the third quarter, the Bulls couldn’t convert on two straight possessions while trailing by 13, and by early in the fourth the Nets recorded their biggest lead at 80-59.

“We had a bad day,” Luol Deng said. “We’ve got no excuses. We played terrible. But it’s over with. Just bounce back the next game. We’ve got to bring a better effort.”

mmcgraw@dailyherald.com