Bulls lose tough one to Detroit

This much is closed to debate: The Bulls missed a great opportunity to pull into playoff contention against Detroit on Saturday night.

They played well enough defensively and had enough good looks on the offensive end to defeat the Pistons, but the Bulls hit just 7 of 23 shots in the fourth quarter and lost 94-90 at the United Center. The Bulls played without two starters: Derrick Rose (hyperextended left elbow) and Taj Gibson (fractured rib).

Several points are open to critical discussion, starting with Jimmy Butler's assessment of the loss.

"It's just tough. I just feel like I could have done more; made some more shots, played better defense," he said in the locker room. "There's always room for improvement."

A check of the stat sheet shows Butler finishing with 28 points, 17 rebounds and 12 assists to record his first career triple-double. Butler also scored 14 of the Bulls' 25 points in the fourth quarter.

Could he really have done more?

"All I want to do is win - triple-double or no triple-double," Butler said. "I didn't do my job. We as a whole, we didn't do it."

A couple of strategic decisions also were debatable. One was Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy opting to remove Bulls-killing center Andre Drummond midway through the fourth quarter.

A notoriously poor free-throw shooter, Drummond was bad even by his own standards Saturday, going 1-for-10 at the line overall and 0-for-4 in the fourth quarter. So Van Gundy sent in backup Aron Baynes with 5:22 left.

Without Drummond to protect the rim, Butler and Pau Gasol scored on drives to bring the Bulls within 82-81. The Bulls then got three chances to take the lead but missed three outside jumpers. E'Twaun Moore had a good look at a tying 3-pointer with 1:29 left, but it rimmed out.

Detroit went ahead 90-83 with 43.3 seconds left before the Bulls managed to score 5 points in less than five seconds. First, Butler hit a 3-pointer. Then Pistons guard Jackson was called for an offensive foul on the ensuing inbounds pass. Butler quickly drew a foul, and his 2 free throws brought the Bulls within 90-88 with 38.9 seconds on the clock.

The Bulls needed a defensive stop, but a controversial play ruined their comeback. First of all, Moore and Gasol did a bad job of containing Jackson on a high screen and roll. Butler jumped into the lane and tried to take a charge, but the officials ruled Butler was inside the restricted area.

Officials checked the replay and Butler clearly wasn't touching the line, but his heels may have hovered above the arc while he stood on his toes. The call stood, and Jackson hit both free throws to put the Pistons up by 4 with 20.4 seconds left.

"They said Jimmy's heels were above the line, I guess," Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. "There wasn't enough evidence to overturn the play."

Butler took two hard falls in the second half. He was kneed in the ribs by Jackson on the blocking foul and fell on his already sore back when Marcus Morris committed a flagrant foul on a breakaway. The Bulls have another critical game Sunday in Milwaukee.

"No excuses," Butler said. "Tired or not, we've got to win."

With six games remaining, the Bulls (38-38) trail eighth-place Indiana by 2 games and seventh-place Detroit by 2½. They dropped the season series 3-1 to the Pistons, so they'd lose a tiebreaker against Detroit but have the edge in a tie with the Pacers.

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