Bulls' late-game lineup fails to hold off Magic

Monday’s 101-98 loss to Orlando had some strong entertainment value for a preseason game. Most of the starters were on the floor at the end of the game and the Bulls couldn’t hold a 3-point lead during the final 1:25.

While Orlando essentially had its starting lineup on the floor late in the game – minus Rashard Lewis, who didn’t play at all – the Bulls used some interesting combinations.

John Salmons was the Bulls’ leading scorer with 19 points and played well. But since he’d already logged 30 minutes, coach Vinny Del Negro decided to leave him on the bench late in the game.

For a while, the Bulls had Jannero Pargo and Kirk Hinrich at guard, Tyrus Thomas and Taj Gibson at forward, with Brad Miller at center. Pargo knocked down a jumper to give the Bulls a short-lived lead with 2:01 remaining.

Then Del Negro sent in Luol Deng to play two guard and took Pargo out. Tough to tell how that one worked out, since it was so late in the game. On two key possessions with a chance to lengthen or take the lead, Miller ended up missing a long jumper and a hook shot in the post.

It will be a tough call on the Bulls’ best closing lineup this season and will probably require some experimentation. Even when Derrick Rose comes back, Hinrich and Salmons figure to be on the court in crunch time, but plenty of combinations are possible.

--I don’t think there is any need to get uptight about Rose’s lingering ankle injury. The Bulls have nine days until the season opener against San Antonio and just one preseason game left. It makes sense to let Rose rest the injury a little bit longer and make sure he’s good to go next week.

“I don’t want to bring him back and then the next day he’s sore or reinjured,” coach Vinny Del Negro said after the game. “I don’t need him limping out there or he practices one day and now it’s swollen and he’s out another week. Let’s let that thing calm down and be smart about it.”

--Here’s a pretty good leftover quote from Luol Deng in the locker room: “We’re confident. We really believe we have a good team. We know every night it might be a different guy, but we really want to focus on playing together defensively.”

--The Bulls ended up shooting 50 percent on the night, with just 14 turnovers, which is obviously pretty good. On defense, they sent Orlando to the foul line 39 times (Dwight Howard went 10 for 17) and let the Magic knock down 8-of-19 attempts from 3-point range.

--The Magic’s big offseason move was acquiring Vince Carter from New Jersey, but Orlando also did a nice job of collecting role players.

Backup center Marcin Gortat is still around after his offer sheet from Dallas was matched. The Magic also added Matt Barnes and former Dallas forward Brandon Bass. Veteran point guard Anthony Johnson is still in uniform and Ryan Anderson (18 points on Monday) was obviously a nice throw-in to the Carter trade.

A familiar face sat on the end of Orlando’s bench – point guard Jason Williams (the ex-King, Grizzlie and Heat), who is attempting a comeback after a year of retirement.

--At the end of Monday’s game, Dwight Howard tossed his sneakers and jersey into the stands and there was a lengthy standoff between a couple of passionate fans who both had a hold of Howard’s jersey. I’m not exactly sure how this one turned out, but it looked like one fan got Howard’s shirt and the other was given Jameer Nelson’s jersey as a consolation prize.