Bulls hold on to top Wizards 87-80

Any sort of win when playing the second leg of back-to-back games on the road is welcome in the NBA.

So the Bulls should be able to overlook their ugly fourth quarter at Washington on Wednesday night.

Despite scoring just 2 points over a nine-minute stretch, the Bulls hung on defensively for an 87-80 victory, winning for the ninth time in 10 games.

Carlos Boozer carried the visitors with 30 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists, while Derrick Rose added 25 points. Boozer picked up his fifth foul with 6:56 left but was able to finish the game.

“It's amazing that he's doing what he's doing,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said, referring to Boozer missing two months with a broken right hand. “He's still working himself into shape. His legs aren't under him yet in his timing.”

The Bulls (18-9) erased an 8-point deficit with a 13-0 run midway through the third quarter. They got off to a quick start in the fourth with a Ronnie Brewer jumper, a technical free throw and a C.J. Watson layup to go ahead 78-70.

Another technical free throw — the Wizards were hit with 3 techs on the night — and a Boozer jumper put the Bulls ahead 81-73 with 9:59 remaining.

That's when lids were installed on both baskets. Over the next nine minutes, the Bulls scored just 2 points, hit 1 of 10 shots from the field and committed 7 turnovers.

Yet, even with the Bulls' inability to score, Washington never got closer than 3 points.

The Bulls led 83-79 when veteran center Kurt Thomas committed his sixth foul to prevent Andray Blatche from getting a layup or dunk. Blatche hit just 1 of 2 free throws with 2:03 remaining.

The misery continued for the Bulls, with a turnover and a Rose miss on the next two trips.

But former Orlando sharpshooter Rashard Lewis, making his Wizards debut, missed a 3-pointer that could have tied it. Then ex-Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich had the ball knocked off his knee out of bounds by Brewer.

Finally, the Bulls put some points on the board when Boozer hit a bank shot while being fouled with 35.2 seconds left. Boozer missed the ensuing free throw but put the visitors up by 5. After Young missed a 3-pointer, Luol Deng sealed the win for the Bulls with a dunk.

“It wasn't a fluid fourth quarter,” Boozer said. “That's part of it, though. Some quarters are going to be like that. This game it just happened to be the fourth quarter.”

Rookie guard John Wall did not play because of bone bruise in his knee. The Wizards traded leading scorer Gilbert Arenas to Orlando for Lewis on Saturday.

After missing Tuesday's game with a concussion, Taj Gibson was active against the Wizards but played less than a minute.

“I didn't feel comfortable with him being out of so many practices,” Thibodeau said. “If the need was there I was going to put him in again.”

The Bulls will now spend two days in New York before battling the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Christmas morning.

Mike McGraw's game tracker

<B>Bulls 87, Wizards 80</B>

<B>Sputtering to a win: </B>The Bulls won for the ninth time in 10 games but had to survive an ugly fourth quarter. The Bulls outscored Washington 14-10 in the final 12 minutes and survived despite scoring 2 points in a nine-minute stretch.

<B>Boozer big inside: </B>Carlos Boozer finished with 30 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists to lead the Bulls. Derrick Rose had 25 points. Ex-Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich contributed 19 points and 9 assists for the Wizards, who played without rookie John Wall (knee bruise).

<B>DC comics</B> The Bulls went 2-for-16 from 3-point range. On the other side, former Orlando sharpshooter Rashard Lewis missed all 5 of his 3-point attempts in his Washington debut.