Road-weary Chicago Bulls limp to last stop on road trip
Road weariness appeared to afflict the Chicago Bulls on Friday in Phoenix.
The return of Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade should have brought a boost, but instead the Bulls fell to the struggling Suns 115-97.
There is one more stop on the six-game ice show road trip Sunday afternoon against coach Tom Thibodeau and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The participation of Wade and Butler remains questionable. Butler admitted his injured right heel still is painful, while Wade had ice packs on both wrists after the loss.
"I want to play basketball," Butler told reporters, according to espn.com. "Not going to say I'm out there completely healthy. I'm not.
"But I want to compete, man. I want to go out there, I want to win, I want to lose, with my team, with my guys. I'm just hoping that this thing goes away so I can get back to not favoring it."
Suns guard Eric Bledsoe rolled into Butler's leg during the fourth quarter, but Butler said he came out of that collision OK.
Butler plays an aggressive offensive game and takes plenty of hits along the way.
Remember last year it was late in the ice-show road trip when Butler suffered a knee injury at Denver and missed 14 of the next 15 games while the Bulls went into a tailspin.
Wade took a hard fall against Phoenix and landed on both wrists. He told reporters after the game he'd make his own judgment on whether X-rays were needed.
The Bulls have three games left before the all-star break, which apparently is much-needed. They'll host Toronto and Boston before getting a week off.
Even with a 26-28 record, the Bulls remained in seventh place in the East on Saturday morning.
But they're falling behind the teams in front of them, while others - most notably Miami and its 13-game win streak - are closing in.
The Bulls played a couple of good games without Butler last week, beating Sacramento and losing to Houston in overtime. But they reverted to a familiar problem in Phoenix.
While Butler, Wade, Taj Gibson and Robin Lopez all scored in double figures, the Bulls didn't get much of anything from the younger guys.
After Doug McDermott's 11 points off the bench, the next-highest scorer was Nikola Mirotic with 5.
When the Bulls missed shots, the Suns were usually able to run and score in transition. Phoenix finished the first half on a 17-4 run and led by 13 at halftime.
The Bulls tried to attack inside, since Suns center Tyson Chandler left the game with an ankle injury and backup Alex Len was suspended. The Bulls cut the lead to 6, but then reverted to their bad habits.
"We could have pulverized them down low," Gibson said after the game. "They went small. We didn't do that and then they were able to get out on jump shots, the opposite of what we wanted to do."
That sounds like a complaint Wade has made since early in the season, how the younger Bulls don't always follow the game plan.
"I've been saying all year. (the margin of error) is very slim on this team," Wade said. "When we do the things that we need to do, we're going to be in the games no matter who we play.
"And the games we don't, no matter who we play, we're going to be beat."
Before Friday, the Suns had lost eight of their last nine overall and dropped eight straight in their home building.
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Bulls game day
Bulls vs. Minnesota Timberwolves at the Target Center, 2:30 p.m. Sunday
TV: Comcast SportsNet
Radio: WLS 890-AM
Outlook: It's been a tough week for the Timberwolves. SG Zach LaVine, who was averaging 18.9 ppg, was lost for the season after suffering a torn ACL in his left knee during a Feb. 3 game at Detroit. Minnesota (20-34) has lost five of its last six games, but did beat Toronto at home on Wednesday. The Timberwolves still have young stars, with C Karl Anthony Towns averaging 23.7 points and 11.9 rebounds; and SF Andrew Wiggins at 22.5 ppg. Minnesota signed SF Lance Stephenson, who averaged 3.5 points in his first two appearances. Coach Tom Thibodeau's defensive system hasn't caught on yet. The T-wolves rank 28th in defensive field-goal percentage at .474. Minnesota beat the Bulls 99-94 at the United Center on Dec. 13.
Next: Toronto Raptors at the United Center on Tuesday, 7 p.m.
- Mike McGraw