Bulls comeback falls short in home opener
RECAP | BOXSCORE
10-28-2005
Joe Johnson led the Bulls rally with 14 second-half points
Mike Dunleavy Jr. and Jason Richardson combined for 46 points as the Golden State Warriors spoiled a valiant comeback effort by the Bulls in a 98-97 thriller. Joe Johnson had 14 points and five assists in his Bulls debut but made a critical error in the final seconds that cost the Bulls the win.
Richardson and Dunleavy Jr. helped the Warriors build a 66-48 lead with 4:34 left to go in the third quarter. A frustrated Scott Skiles pulled all five starters and inserted a lineup of Othella Harrington, Antonio Davis, Andres Nocioni, Johnson and Chris Duhon. Together, they narrowed the margin to 77-69 at the end of the third quarter.
The Bulls continued their rally into the fourth, as Chris Duhon gave the Bulls a 78-77 lead on a 10-foot jumper with 7:16 to play. Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon, who combined for just 14 points on 6-for-19 shooting, spent the rest of the game on the bench.
The score went back and forth going into the final minute, when Richardson knocked down a three-pointer with 45.6 seconds remaining, giving the Warriors a 98-94 lead.
But seconds later, Johnson answered back with a three of his own, cutting the Warriors lead to one. The Bulls played tight defense on the next possession, forcing Baron Davis to launch a bad shot with the shot clock expiring. Eddy Curry, who finished with a team-high 18 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists grabbed the rebound and called a timeout with exactly three seconds remaining.
Coming out of the timeout, Luol Deng inbounded to Johnson who was quickly double-teamed. Instead of firing up a shot, Johnson passed inside to Tyson Chandler as the buzzer sounded. The Warriors ran off the court with the win.
"They gave a great effort," said Richardson. "They could have packed it in when they were down big, but they came back. If we hadn't made some big shots towards the end, they might have gotten the win. But we were hungry. We weren't gonna let this one slip away."
Johnson was dejected after the game.
"I [messed] up," he said in the lockroom. "I thought there was enough time left, Tyson was wide open. This one was my fault."
"That play hurt us, obviously, but if we hadn't been in a position where we're down 18 in the second half, Joe wouldn't have had to be in that position," said coach Skiles.
"Joe did a great job in getting us back into the game. You can't put all the blame on him."
The Bulls got a solid effort out of Eddy Curry, who led the Bulls with 18 points on 9-of-10 shooting, while adding 13 rebounds and 5 assists.
"I worked on my conditioning and rebounding a lot in the offseason," said Curry. "I'm just trying to do all the things I need to do to stay on the floor."
The same can't be said for Hinrich and Gordon, who were hindered by the Warriors inside defense. Adonal Foyle finished with eight blocks, while rookie Al Tyler added four.
"It was tough getting into a rhythm," said Gordon. "You keep getting your shots stuffed over and over, and before you know it you're down a bunch of points and you're watching the game from the bench. I'll definitely come out more aggressive tomorrow night."