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 The Bulls blew off whatever fatigue they might have felt -- plus
24 turnovers -- to blow by the Mavericks early and then hold them
off late for a wire-to-wire 102-98 win at the American Airlines
Center to end Dallas' three-game win streak.
Dallas rallied from a 95-85 deficit with 4:30 to go to make it a
two-point game after guard Monta Ellis' three-point play with 28.6
seconds to go.
Chicago point guard Derrick Rose, guarded tightly by Ellis, waited
until the final seconds of the shot clock to drive the lane. He
missed the shot, but was able to tip the rebound out to the
perimeter. Chicago retained possession and passed it around until
Dallas' scrambling defense finally fouled forward Pau Gasol with 0.1
seconds to go.
He hit both free throws to seal a big road win for a Chicago team
that struggled of late, but has now toppled two Western Conference
contenders on consecutive nights.
"We just want to win," Bulls center Joakim Noah said. "We just have
to get into a rhythm and sometimes a humbling experience is good. We
just want to take it step by step, keeping our mindset on improving,
and I think we will be all right."
 Dallas continued a strange pattern of losing at home after coming
off a successful road trip. The Mavericks won at Memphis on Monday
and destroyed Minnesota on Wednesday. But they couldn't maintain the
momentum. They are now 16-5 against the Eastern Conference and,
oddly, all of those losses have come on their home floor.
Bulls guard Jimmy Butler, a sure-fire Eastern Conference All-Star
reserve, snared an offensive rebound and cashed in a baseline jumper
to put Chicago up 66-62 with 6:10 to go in the third quarter after
Dallas had tied it up a couple of times. The Bulls continually had
the answers to keep Dallas from taking the lead.
Rose and Butler led the way for Chicago with 20 points each. Gasol
had 13 points and 16 rebounds and forward Tony Snell added 10
points, including two of the Bulls' nine 3-pointers as they shot
52.6 percent from beyond the arc.
Forward Taj Gibson added 15 points and seven rebounds as he moved
back to the bench. Chicago welcomed Noah back to the starting lineup
after missing three games with an ankle injury. He finished with six
points and seven rebounds in 23 minutes.
Chicago, which improved to 29-16 behind the strength a 47-30
rebounding advantage, controlled the first half from the opening
tip, jumping out to an early lead and holding the Mavs at bay. Guard
Kirk Heinrich's corner 3-pointer gave the Bulls their seventh 3 on
nine attempts in the first half and their biggest lead, 43-32 with
6:42 to go.
Butler was asked why it took so long for the Bulls to bust out of
their funk.
"That's a good question," Butler said. "I really can't tell you. I
think we all just needed to sit down and get our feelings out and
tell each other what we think is wrong. We did that and we turned it
around now."
A 9-2 Mavs scoring run late in the half quickly got them back in it,
cutting the deficit to 52-51 before the Bulls took a 54-51 lead into
halftime.
Mavs point guard Rajon Rondo, who had not yet been traded from
Boston when Dallas won at Chicago in double overtime in December,
was limited to six points and four assists. He was benched by
Carlisle for the final five minutes of the game, the first sign of
any tension in that relationship since Rondo was acquired a little
more than a month ago.
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"We didn't really have anybody who played great," Carlisle said.
"It's just a coach's decision down the stretch (on Rondo) -- not an
easy one, but it's just a coach's decision."
Carlisle was then asked if benching Rondo was the right decision
"There are very few correct decisions when you lose games. I've
learned that after coaching over 1,000 of these," Carlisle said.
"You've got to roll with your gut. When you're in the position I'm
in, you've got to take the heat and you've got to welcome the heat
because that's what this job is about. You've also got to roll with
your gut, and so that's what we did. We just came up short -- all of
us. And we all own it."
Rondo said his taking a seat isn't the end of the world.
"Coach made the decision and it's as simple as that," Rondo said.
"I've been in this game for a long time. No it's not like the end of
the world. I've liked what coach Carlisle has done for me this year
and I don't have any regrets."
Dallas, now 30-14, got a game-high 24 points from forward Dirk
Nowitzki on 10-of-15 shooting. Center Chandler Parsons had 19 points
and Ellis finished with 17 points, scoring five in the final
quarter.
NOTES: Bulls G-F Mike Dunleavy (ankle) hoped to play but remained
out for an 11th consecutive game. ... Former Mavs F Shawn Marion
announced that he will retire at the end of the season. Marion
played five seasons in Dallas before he signed a free-agent contract
with Cleveland this season. Carlisle said Marion "will go down as
one of the most underrated players in history." Marion will bid
farewell to Mavs fans when the Cavs visit March 10. ... Dallas won
the first of the two season meetings, 132-129 on Dec. 2 at Chicago
in a two-overtime thriller. ... Friday night's game was the third of
only four home games for the Mavs in January. Their final home game
of the month is Tuesday against Memphis. The Mavs won at Memphis on
Monday. ... After a one-game road trip, the Bulls return home Sunday
to play Miami and then embark on a six-game trip through Feb. 8. The
first five games are against Western Conference teams and includes
stops at Golden State, Phoenix and Houston.
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