This was supposed to be a soft spot on the Bulls schedule, the first of four home games against the league's worst teams after two consecutive poundings at the hands of its best.
Instead, they opened their five-game homestand looking, if not exactly lethargic, certainly something south of sharp as the generally hapless Minnesota Timberwolves held off a mild fourth-quarter charge and handed them their sixth loss in the last seven games with a 102-92 decision. The second of Andres Nocioni's consecutive three-pointers in the final quarter gave the Bulls their first lead since early on at 73-72. But the Bulls struggled to find the basket all game and, like so many other nights this season, simply did not have the wherewithal to close as Minnesota won just its eighth game this season and fourth on the road.
Still without forward Drew Gooden, whose return from a right ankle injury has been delayed, the Bulls (14-20) continue to be stretched where they are thinnest -- outrebounded 29-19 in the first half.
Tyrus Thomas tried to compensate with five first-half blocks (plus a career-high eight for the game), but the Timberwolves still outscored the Bulls 26-18 in the paint.
Both teams were playing the second half of back-to-back contests and it looked like it as they missed a combined 14 shots during a span of 4 minutes, 15 seconds to that opened the game before Ben Gordon scored on a give-and-go from Aaron Gray.
The action didn't pick up much from there, particularly for the Bulls, who stumbled to 14 of 41 (34 percent) shooting in the first half when they trailed by as many as 13 points.
If 20-year-old rookie Derrick Rose isn't hitting the proverbial first-year wall with a pair of sub-par games, he certainly looked in Saturday's first half like he could use a long weekend off. He connected on just 2 of 10 shots, his second coming in the final 30 seconds of the second quarter.
Rose was coming off a season-low three points in the Bulls' 25-point loss at Cleveland Friday night in which he played just 22 minutes because of early foul trouble.
"For whatever reason, he hasn't played as well as he's used to," Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said before Saturday's game. "It's a long season, he's young and trying to find his way still. There's a lot of pressure on him and on Ben [Gordon] because of the guys we have out."
That wasn't a problem Saturday for Rose, who led all scorers with 22 points. He had a hand in keeping the Bulls within striking distance in the third quarter when he recovered from a steal by Minnesota's Sebastian Telfair by slapping his attempted layup away, then scoring off a drive on the other end. The three-point play after the foul pulled the Bulls to within five at 53-48.
Randy Foye led Minnesota with 21 points.
Joakim Noah, the center of mini-controversy Friday night for his vocal on-court squabble with Nocioni, kept the Bulls within seven points with consecutive baskets late in the third quarter.
But he promptly undid what he had done with two straight turnovers sandwiched around a missed layup.
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Big number
4:15
Time elapsed, including a combined 14 missed shots, before Ben Gordon made the game's first basket, a layup.
misaacson@tribune.com
