ORLANDO, Fla. — It’s a good thing the Bulls are coming back to Chicago. There might be a warrant out for their arrest in Florida after they stole a game from the Magic on Sunday.
“Let’s face it,” Pau Gasol said after the 98-97 victory. “We got away with one.”
Coach Tom Thibodeau put it this way: “To be a good team, you have to find different ways to win. We had some good fortune — and we made it go our way.”
Up 97-91, the Magic pulled a disappearing act in the final 32 seconds, starting with a foolish clear-path foul by Tobias Harris after a Jimmy Butler steal.
“I was (surprised),” Butler said. “I’m not gonna lie. I hate shooting free throws when there is no one around me. It’s not normal. But I knocked ’em down.”
Derrick Rose showed off his playmaking skills Sunday, dishing out 11 assists with three turnovers. But down 97-93 with 20 seconds to play, his team needed a bucket. He drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key.
“There’s going to be games where I can’t hit shots,” Rose said after a 4-for-14 night. “But when the game is on the line, I feel very comfortable taking those shots.”
Rose then helped smother Magic guard Evan Fournier, who committed a stunning over-and-back violation by stepping on the midcourt line.
“We knew we didn’t foul him,” Rose said of his reaction to the whistle. “We knew it was going our way.”
Rose drove and missed, but Gasol was all alone to flush home the rebound for a 98-97 lead.
“My man left to help the drive,” Gasol said, “and I got myself into good position to make a play.”
Still, the Bulls had to defend the Magic for 9.4 seconds. To that point, the Magic had shot 55.3 percent in the second half.
Nikola Vucevic could not knock down an 8-footer, but the 6-foot-9 Harris was right there for the putback, in ideal position to atone for his foul of Butler. But Harris missed, and Gasol pulled down his 15th rebound to end the game.
“I take full ownership for this loss,” Harris said.
The Bulls return home owners of a 32-20 mark after a 3-3 trip that saw highs (overtime win over the Warriors), lows (double-overtime loss to the Lakers), questions about effort (by Rose), a vehement defense of the Bulls’ D (by Thibodeau), a trouncing (in New Orleans) and a miracle win (in Orlando).
“It has been a long couple of weeks,” Thibodeau said. “I didn’t think we played particularly well (Sunday) in the second and third (quarters), but I loved the toughness down the stretch.”
Butler logged 40-plus minutes despite needing heat on his right shoulder after a collision with former Indiana star Victor Oladipo.
“Jimmy played a terrific all-around game,” Thibodeau said of his 27-point, six-steal effort. “You’re always moving him around (defensively) if someone gets hot … then if someone else gets hot, to the next guy.”
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Joakim Noah came through Sunday with 18 points (7-for-10 shooting) and nine rebounds. And fellow big man Gasol went for 25 and 15, giving him 12 straight double-doubles, three shy of Michael Jordan’s franchise record.
Asked what the streak means to him, Gasol replied: “That I’m playing well, and I’m healthy. I just want to continue to do my job, to contribute and help this team win. Be the best we can be.”
Twitter @TeddyGreenstein