Bulls hold off Suns

The Bulls have played beyond expectations all season by working hard and being unselfish. So maybe they earned some of the luck that drizzled in their direction late in Tuesday night's game against Phoenix.

They built a 22-point lead in the third quarter and knew in the back of their minds a showdown with Boston looms Thursday. The Bulls seemed to let up, and it almost cost them.

The Suns pulled within 2 points with five minutes remaining, then missed 5 shots that could have tied the score. Finally, trailing by 3 points in the waning seconds, Steve Nash inexplicably drove to the basket and let time expire without attempting a 3-point shot.

So the Bulls (57-20) hung on to win 97-94 before a relieved crowd at the United Center. A victory over Boston would essentially wrap up homecourt advantage for the Eastern Conference playoffs. With a win, the Bulls would have a magic number of 1 with four games remaining.

“It's going to be a zoo in here on Thursday, very exciting,” center Joakim Noah said. “Hopefully we can play at a higher level against the better teams.”

Noah returned from three games off with a sprained right ankle, and Carlos Boozer was back after skipping Monday's practice with an illness.

The reserves helped build a 13-point halftime lead, which grew to 76-54 with 3:44 left in the third quarter. But the good times didn't last long.

Early in the fourth quarter, Vince Carter traveled back in time about a decade. He scored 9 points in three Suns possessions, finishing with a 4-point play that cut the Bulls' advantage to 89-85 with 7:03 remaining. Carter tipped in his own miss to make it 91-89 with 4:22 left.

“You've got to give the Suns a lot of credit, because they kept fighting,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “We were fortunate in the end to get the win. We've got to do a lot better. We've got to clean up a lot of things.”

Phoenix (37-40) had three possessions trailing by 2. On the third, a couple of offensive rebounds gave Carter three good looks at the basket, but none of the shots fell.

Derrick Rose (19 points) took matters into his own hands by driving through four Suns defenders in the lane for a basket and 3-point play with 1:52 left. Phoenix veteran Grant Hill thought he drew a charge.

“It's not the first time an MVP got that call down the stretch,” Hill said.

Rose added an 18-foot pull-up jumper to put the Bulls up 96-92 with 33.2 seconds remaining.

“I'm just trying to do whatever it takes to win,” Rose said. “At the end, it was me making a shot. I never want to be in that position. If anything, I'd love to win by 20, 30 points. But I'll do anything to win.”

After missing 7 of 8 shots, Carter hit a driving bank to bring the Suns within 2. Kyle Korver knocked down 1 of 2 free throws with 13.1 seconds left, and Phoenix couldn't answer.

The Bulls were outrebounded by a small margin 43-41. Inside the locker room, Noah agreed the Bulls can do better, but eventually he cut off questions about the home team's quality of play.

“We won the basketball game,” he said. “We didn't play our best, but you learn from your mistakes and you move on. You're not going to win by 30 every night. That's just the way it is.”

Thibodeau thought Rose struggled most of the night. The MVP favorite finished with 4 assists and just 2 turnovers, but Rose had trouble handling the ball. He lost control of his dribble at least four times.

“It was kind of crazy,” he said. “The ball kept slipping. I kept falling. I don't know (what it was).”

Carter led Phoenix with 23 points, while Nash piled up 16 assists. The Suns were eliminated from the playoffs on Sunday.