Wasting a five-point lead with 1 minute 44 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Bulls fell in overtime to the Phoenix Suns 107-98 Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd at the United Center.
They closed the door on 2005 by extending their losing streak to six games and falling to 5-8 at the United Center.
“It stinks,” the Bulls’ Kirk Hinrich said. “That’s for sure. Our losing streak–we wanted to break out of it and played well enough to do it. We didn’t win the game, so it’s just really frustrating at this point.”
The Bulls blew several chances to put away the game in the final minute of regulation.
“As has been the case, we had trouble getting stops,” coach Scott Skiles said. “With that amount of time left, you don’t need to score.”
Nevertheless, a missed baseline jumper by Ben Gordon, a missed free throw by Darius Songaila and a missed layup by Gordon with six seconds left were among the plays that will haunt them.
Songaila’s miss with 18.6 seconds left in regulation gave Shawn Marion time to tie the game 92-92 with a layup, which held up to force overtime.
“We’re probably one free throw away from winning the game,” said Skiles, whose Bulls went 8 of 11 from the line while the Suns shot 18 of 21.
Songaila is one of the Bulls’ leaders at the free-throw line, shooting 83.3 percent coming in. He missed an opportunity to be a hero on the same day his wife gave birth to their first child, a daughter they named Meile.
“Make a free throw, win the game,” said Songaila, who had 14 points and 11 rebounds. “Now you’ve got to think about it.”
Phoenix outscored the Bulls 15-6 in overtime, led by Marion’s eight points. Marion, a native of North Chicago, scored 28 points to go with 16 rebounds. Steve Nash, the NBA’s most valuable player last season, scored 14 points with 10 assists and eight rebounds despite hurting his wrist.
“We lost Shawn too many times tonight,” said Skiles, who coached Marion while in Phoenix nearly four years ago. “I know from experience, he’s a very slippery player. He has a knack for finding cracks.”
Marion stepped on Chris Duhon’s right ankle early in the extra session, and Duhon said he suffered a mild sprain. He left the game for three minutes and finished with 16 points and nine rebounds.
More Top Picks Best Dog Car Barriers For Suvs
Skiles shook up his lineup, and it helped the Bulls early. Going with a three-guard offense in Hinrich, Duhon and Gordon, they complemented each other as well as Luol Deng, who scored 16 points to go with 14 rebounds.
Anyone looking for a silver lining might want to check out Hinrich’s line. He finally found the basket with some consistency and scored 25 points in 51 minutes. He went 11 of 24 and had four assists, three steals, a block and just one turnover.
“He made some plays when it counted,” Skiles said.
But no one made any when it counted most.