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 Bulls Rally Past Struggling Bobcats
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[December 06, 2007]
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)
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Luol Deng scored 30 points and the Chicago Bulls dominated the fourth quarter to send the Charlotte Bobcats to their seventh straight loss, 91-82 on Wednesday.
[Caption: Charlotte Bobcats guard
Raymond Felton (20) reacts as he drives past Chicago Bulls forward
Andres Nocioni (5), of Argentina, during the first half in an NBA
basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday. (AP
Photo/Chuck Burton)]
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 Andres Nocioni scored 10 of his 15 points in the final quarter and added 11 rebounds for the Bulls, who erased an 11-point third-quarter deficit to win on the road for only the second time in nine tries.
Gerald Wallace had 22 points and eight rebounds for the Bobcats, but was on the bench with five fouls for the decisive 10-2 run early in the fourth quarter that gave Chicago its first lead of the game.
Jason Richardson scored 17 points, but was shut out in the final quarter and Raymond Felton scored 17 points but missed six free throws down the stretch for the Bobcats, who had little presence inside as they extended the league's longest current losing streak.
The Bobcats, who haven't won since Nov. 19 against Portland, found out Wednesday morning that Cleveland had matched their offer sheet for 6-foot-10 forward Anderson Varejao.
Coach Sam Vincent has been pleading for another big man for months, and Charlotte's lack of depth inside was costly down the stretch. With Deng and Ben Wallace controlling the inside, the Bulls outscored the Bobcats 38-22 in the fourth quarter.
In a matchup of coaches who were teammates at Michigan State and with the Orlando Magic, both Vincent and Scott Skiles continued tweaking lineups to try to spark their struggling teams.
Vincent started Bobcats rookie Jared Dudley for a second straight game ahead of ineffective center Primoz Brezec. That moved Emeka Okafor to center and Gerald Wallace to power forward.
But Dudley failed to score on 0-of-6 shooting and the Bobcats faded late in their second loss to Chicago in five days.
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Skiles used his fifth different starting lineup in 16 games, replacing Tyrus Thomas with Joe Smith. Thomas played only six minutes, while Smith had 11 points and five rebounds.
The Bulls overcame 20 turnovers, 10 of them in the third quarter as Charlotte built a 60-49 lead on Matt Carroll's jumper with 1:13 left.
Then Nocioni came alive. He scored seven points in the first 5 minutes of the fourth and his 3-pointer tied the game. Chicago took its first lead with 6:26 left on Chris Duhon's drive, and Deng's putback on the next possession made it 72-68.
Charlotte's Wallace was watching from the bench with five fouls, but returned with just over 5 minutes left. He couldn't stop the Bulls from taking a 79-70 lead on Nocioni's jumper with 3:36 left.
Deng bested his previous season high of 29 points set against Charlotte on Saturday by making 10 of 17 shots and 10 of 13 free throws.
Notes: Vincent recalled what he thought when he first saw Skiles at Michigan State. "I thought he was a little (expletive) who couldn't play basketball," Vincent joked. ... Skiles said he didn't think Vincent would end up a coach when he was leading the Spartans in scoring. "I thought he was going to end up being an actor," Skiles said. "There is some acting in this business, though." ... Bobcats F Ryan Hollins (shoulder) missed his fifth straight game.
[Associated Press; By MIKE CRANSTON]
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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