The Bulls had a chance to return home with a .500 record on a grueling six-game road trip, but a prolonged offensive drought -- they managed only six points in a 12œ-minute stretch -- proved to be their undoing in a 98-88 loss to the San Antonio Spurs at the AT&T Center.
The Bulls (7-9) were outscored 31-6 during that span as a 67-58 lead with 5œ minutes left in the third quarter became an 89-73 deficit with five minutes left in the fourth. ''We had a nice lead, they made a couple of adjustments and our guys got a little fatigued out there,'' Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said. ''We tried to go to some other play sets, and we weren't effective with that. They got us back on our heels. We turned it over, and they got in transition and got some easy scores.
''They had the momentum back, and we could never get it back.''
Ben Gordon led the Bulls with a game-high 23 points, and Drew Gooden added 20 points and 12 rebounds. Rookie Derrick Rose had a quiet night with 10 points, six rebounds and six assists.
Tim Duncan led the Spurs (8-6) with 21 points.
The score was tied at halftime after the Bulls wasted two opportunities to take the lead just before the intermission.
Gordon scored and was fouled with 1.9 seconds left in the first half, but he missed the free throw. Joakim Noah grabbed the rebound but missed a short hook shot just before the buzzer.
The Bulls, though, got off to a fast start in the second half and used a 12-2 run to take a 65-56 lead with six minutes to go in the third quarter. Gooden and Gordon led the way during the run, but the Bulls' hot stretch ended suddenly.
With the Bulls leading 67-58, the Spurs put together an 18-4 run the rest of the quarter to take a 76-71 lead into the fourth.
The Bulls' offensive woes continued at the start of the fourth quarter, and their frustration started to show. After the Spurs had a turnover on the first possession of the quarter, Andres Nocioni went in for a layup on the fast break. He appeared to be fouled, but nothing was called, and Nocioni was whistled for a turnover after he lost the ball on the way up and grabbed it out of the air.
He argued the call and was still ticked on the defensive end. Roger Mason Jr. took the ball to the basket, and Nocioni hit him across the arms to earn a flagrant foul.
Nocioni argued the call, then was hit with a technical foul by referee Joe Crawford.
The Spurs hit all three free throws for a 79-71 edge.
The Bulls' biggest problem, though, was putting the ball in the basket. They had only two points (a Luol Deng layup) in the first seven minutes of the fourth as the Spurs -- with Duncan resting comfortably on the bench -- built an 89-73 edge.
''Their second team came out there and played harder than their first team,'' Gooden said.
''I think we kind of stood on our heels when we saw Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili weren't in there and got too lackadaisical out there defensively.''
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Bulls recap
Bulls 24 21 26 17--88
San Antonio 25 20 31 22--98
Bulls min fg-a ft-a o-t a pf pts
Hughes 39:50 4-14 0-0 0-1 3 3 8
Noah 12:11 0-2 2-2 1-5 0 3 2
Gooden 31:13 9-17 2-4 2-12 0 3 20
Rose 39:56 5-11 0-0 1-6 6 2 10
Gordon 38:10 9-16 3-4 1-5 3 3 23
Gray 16:00 1-1 0-0 0-1 3 4 2
Nocioni 8:37 2-6 0-0 0-1 0 4 5
TThomas 7:54 1-2 0-0 0-4 0 3 2
Hunter 16:36 2-5 0-0 0-0 2 4 6
Deng 26:08 4-7 2-2 0-3 0 1 10
Sefolosha 3:26 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 1 0
Totals 240:01 37-81 9-12 5-38 19 31 88
Percentages: FG .457, FT .750. 3-Point Goals: 5-14, .357 (Hunter 2-3, Gordon 2-4, Nocioni 1-1, Hughes 0-6). Team Rebounds: 5. Team Turnovers: 13 (12 PTS). Blocked Shots: 1 (Nocioni). Turnovers: 13 (Gooden 3, Gordon 3, Rose 2, Deng, Hughes, Hunter, Nocioni, Sefolosha). Steals: 6 (Gordon 2, Deng, Gooden, Hughes, Noah). Technical Fouls: Nocioni, 11:24 fourth. Flagrant Fouls: Nocioni, 11:24 fourth.
Spurs min fg-a ft-a o-t a pf pts
Bowen 30:40 1-4 0-2 0-2 0 0 3
Duncan 28:39 8-12 5-9 0-8 3 2 21
Oberto 14:53 2-3 1-2 0-1 1 1 5
Mason 36:14 2-12 3-3 1-6 3 3 9
Finley 25:40 2-9 2-2 0-3 1 0 6
Ginobili 17:55 5-8 5-6 0-3 4 0 15
Bonner 16:40 1-3 1-2 1-2 0 2 4
Hill 32:40 7-16 5-6 5-11 4 3 19
KThomas 16:16 3-5 2-2 2-9 1 3 8
Udoka 19:55 3-3 0-0 0-2 0 3 8
Tolliver 0:27 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 239:59 34-76 24-34 9-47 17 17 98
Percentages: FG .447, FT .706. 3-Point Goals: 6-18, .333 (Udoka 2-2, Mason 2-5, Bonner 1-2, Bowen 1-2, Ginobili 0-1, Hill 0-1, Finley 0-5). Team Rebounds: 9. Team Turnovers: 12 (16 PTS). Blocked Shots: 5 (Duncan 2, Ginobili, Hill, K.Thomas). Turnovers: 12 (Finley 2, Hill 2, Mason 2, K.Thomas 2, Bowen, Duncan, Ginobili, Udoka). Steals: 5 (Bowen, Ginobili, Hill, Mason, Oberto). Technical Fouls: None.
Officials--Joe Crawford, Bill Kennedy, Eric Lewis. A--17,837 (18,797). T--2:15.
