Perhaps more troubling than the Bulls' 104-98 loss to the Pistons, though, is the continued lack of impact from Deng, who scored just six points on 2-for-7 shooting. This performance comes on the heels of Deng not playing the final 17 minutes of Saturday's victory over Utah.

Deng is averaging 13.5 points on 43.7 percent shooting, both his lowest totals since his rookie season. He has failed to reach double figures in three of his last four games.

"Luol's trying to find himself," Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said. "He has to keep hustling and find ways to impact the game. We're trying to get him involved with certain play sets. When he's aggressive and after it defensively, he's a big plus for us. We need him to play for us to have a chance."

Whether Deng is the victim of an offensive scheme designed to keep the middle open for rookie Derrick Rose or struggling to find rhythm because of shots Rose and Ben Gordon are taking, he clearly has been relegated to a stationary jump shooter and a non-primary option.

Rose fouled out for the first time in his career with 10 points and five assists. Gordon also fouled out after scoring 10 of his 18 points in the fourth.

Larry Hughes led the Bulls with 19 points. Tayshaun Prince flirted with a triple-double for the Pistons, finishing with 14 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.

Del Negro shuffled his lineup again, his 11th change in 28 games, inserting Joakim Noah for Aaron Gray at center. That didn't stop the Pistons from cruising to a 17-4 lead as the Bulls allowed ridiculously easy interior baskets and showed little movement on offense.

Things didn't get much better in the second quarter as first Rose sat with three fouls at the 5:37 mark and, just over three minutes later, Gordon joined him with the same. The Bulls trailed 58-45 at halftime.

The Bulls flashed a pulse coming out of the locker room after halftime, ripping off a 12-0 run with Andres Nocioni scoring five, Rose four and Gordon three. But Rose picked up his fourth foul less than two minutes in and sat. And Detroit, despite Iverson's absence, responded with a 10-0 run. Stuckey scored seven.

"Stuckey killed us off the dribble and with penetration," Del Negro said. "We didn't control him at all."

The Bulls clawed back to trail 92-86 as Gordon heated up, scoring on three straight possessions. Richard Hamilton responded with a three-pointer with 5:12 remaining and Hughes missed an open three at the other end.

Stuckey missed some free throws and Tyrus Thomas and Lindsey Hunter hit late three-pointers to add mild drama.

But like Deng's performance this season, it wasn't enough.

kcjohnson@tribune.com