Without Rose, Bulls fade in fourth quarter
Derrick Rose, get well soon.
With Rose awaiting another knee surgery, the Bulls on Wednesday night looked like a team that wasn't sure where the offense would come from. For a good comparison, just look at last year's Bulls after they lost Rose to an injury.
The Bulls were outscored 31-21 by Charlotte in the fourth quarter and capped an emotional day with a frustrating 98-86 loss at the United Center.
The Hornets snapped a five-game losing streak, while the Bulls (36-22) failed to stretch their home win streak to a season-high five games.
“It's a tough day because of the concern for Derrick,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “The games are going to keep coming. I mentioned this earlier, about how our team does feel about Derrick and we're concerned about him. That being said, we have to get the job done.”
Aaron Brooks started in place of Rose and sent the Bulls to a good start. With Brooks scoring 9 points in the first quarter, the Bulls opened an early 9-point lead, which evaporated quickly. Brooks finished with 12 points, hitting 4 of 12 shots from the field and missing a career-worst 5 free throws.
“I was really comfortable (with the starters),” Brooks said. “I just missed a few easy ones. I think defensively we did an OK job, it just didn't go that way in the fourth quarter. We let it go, let it slip.”
Thibodeau tried an offensive lineup, defensive lineup — nothing worked in the final quarter. Pau Gasol led the Bulls with 25 points and 13 rebounds but gave up baskets in the post to Al Jefferson down the stretch. Jimmy Butler was next on the Bulls' scoring list with 14 points.
Last year the Bulls were one of the worst offensive teams in the league but could rely on their defense to win games. The team is built differently this season. It's not as defensive-minded, so the Bulls will have to approach playing without Rose differently.
Even if the very best-case scenario pays out, Rose probably is out for 4-6 weeks.
“Defense is all effort, anyway. It's if we want to play or not,” Butler said. “We really haven't been playing too much defense all year, just offense. And look where it got us.”
The Bulls trailed 67-65 heading into the fourth quarter but never caught up, because the Hornets (23-32) shot 60 percent from the field in the fourth. Brooks shot a 3-pointer that would have cut the deficit to 6 with 4:45 left. It rattled out and the game was essentially over.
“It's tough. I don't really know what to say,” Joakim Noah said. “Tonight we didn't play well. Everything we did was pretty soft. We've got to play a lot harder.
“Mentally, I think we're a little bit drained with everything that happened. I just know that we're going to have to play a lot harder if we want to be successful.”
Both Noah and Butler had light contact with Rose since finding out he will need another surgery to repair torn meniscus cartilage in his right knee.
“I talked to him this morning, a little bit last night,” Butler said. “He seems like he's in good spirits, so can't wait to have him back over here.
“It's still hard, whenever you lose your leader, your point guard. We just love having the guy around as a person and when you don't, it's a lot different in this locker room.”
Noah admitted it was tough getting the bad news.
“It's just really sad. Angry, sad,” Noah said. “He doesn't deserve it. I'm just really disappointed.”
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