--When things went badly for the Bulls against Atlanta on Friday, coach Jim Boylan turned to G Chris Duhon, who hadn't played meaningful minutes in three weeks, since the March 7 game in Boston. After he missed shoot-around two days later in Detroit, Duhon didn't play at all until getting a few minutes of garbage time late in Wednesday's loss at Philadelphia.
"Things happen in this league and then you have to move on," Boylan said. "Du played well the other night. So you can either hold onto something or you can let it go. I choose to let it go." Duhon finished with seven points and five assists in 22 minutes of action, including the entire fourth quarter.
"It was fun to be out there playing again," Duhon said. "Obviously, you're surprised when you haven't been playing much. That's how it is in the league, you've always got to stay ready."
--The Bulls spent their day off in Atlanta on Thursday doing a little cross-training. After playing the previous two nights, coach Jim Boylan decided to take the team bowling. The bowling alley was nearly empty early in the day, so the Bulls split into teams and set out to topple some pins. Several Bulls named Aaron Gray and Tyrus Thomas as the team's best bowlers.
"Just getting out there and being with your teammates and still doing a little activity was good," Gray said. "I think guys were kind of emotionally and mentally drained. I just got on a little hot streak, bowled a 186 and took the lead. I got motivation from the (other Bulls). There was a lot of talking and jeering going on. It was pretty crazy."
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I wish we had been playing with that kind of spirit earlier in the season. We wouldn't be in the situation we're in right now." -- Coach Jim Boylan, after the Bulls' furious fourth-quarter rally fell short in a 106-103 loss at Atlanta on Friday.
