Bulls done in Denver

DENVER -- The Bulls held a Sunday afternoon practice at an unusual venue. The fitness center at their hotel in downtown Denver has a full basketball court that stretches out above a street.

As coach Vinny Del Negro ran the team through some plays, a small crowd of hotel guests worked out on cardio machines next to the court. There were also large windows on the two sides of the court, so the Bulls had a nice view of Denver while they practiced.

After practice, the Bulls flew to Portland for the fourth stop on their circus road trip. They’ll face the Blazers (10-5) on Monday.

This figured to be a tough stretch for the Bulls and it has been, with losses to the Lakers by 15 and to the Nuggets by 19 on Saturday night.

Rather than dwell on the considerable distance between the Bulls and the NBA’s elite teams, one could appreciate how they’ve lost at Boston, L.A. and Denver, while going 6-3 against everyone else.

“We’ve had our opportunities,” Del Negro said. “We’re up going into the fourth quarter in Miami, playing pretty well going into the fourth quarter in Toronto. Last night it was 75-71 going into the fourth. So some good things there. I think we ran out gas a little bit at the end (against Denver), but also our execution offensively and some of our turnovers really changed the complexion of the game and they hit some tough shots.”

HIGH ALTITUDE ADVANTAGE
The Nuggets (9-4) have actually won 15 consecutive home games dating back to last season, so there is no way the Bulls could label that a bad loss, even though they led by 14 at one point in the first half.

Denver has two go-to scorers (Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups), three athletic and skilled big men (Kenyon Martin, Nene and Chris Andersen), along with a potential offensive spark plug off the bench in J.R. Smith, who scored 15 points in the final 12:08 against the Bulls.

Now that Derrick Rose is playing more like his old self, he and Luol Deng have been pretty good scorers. Rose had 28 points against the Nuggets and Deng had 22 to just about match Anthony and Billups.

The Bulls definitely miss having another athletic big man and can only hope Tyrus Thomas will be back from his broken arm shortly after the road trip ends.

“Tyrus brings us more depth, more versatility, shot blocking, athleticism,” Del Negro said. “He’s another body to keep the other guys fresher. That’s a big loss for us, no question, especially with the short rotation we have. Hopefully he can get back as soon as possible.”

NOT BY A LONG SHOT
The Bulls are certainly missing that offensive spark plug. Jannero Pargo has done it well twice, against Milwaukee and Sacramento, two games the Bulls won. But the poor shooting of John Salmons (.345) and Kirk Hinrich (.360) continues to hamstring the offense.

The Bulls have actually moved out of the league basement when it comes to 3-point shooting percentage. But the teams they’ve passed are among the NBA’s worst – Minnesota, New Jersey, Charlotte and Memphis.

Without a consistent long-range threat or low-post scorer, the Bulls are relying heavily on executing plays and using Rose’s penetration to create open shots.

“We have to have our big guys take advantage when they’re switching,” Del Negro said. “We haven’t been able to recognize that quick enough nor take advantage of that. I was pleased with Derrick’s aggressiveness last night, especially getting to the basket and making plays. That was a positive again.”

Several times on Saturday, the Bulls switched Rose onto Kenyon Martin and Rose knocked down the jumper when Martin backed up defensively.

CURRY FINALLY TAKES COURT
Former Bulls center Eddy Curry made his season debut for the Knicks on Sunday afternoon against the Celtics at MSG. Curry played 16 minutes, finishing with 6 points and 4 rebounds.

The Knicks actually played a good game, taking Boston to overtime before losing 107-105 in overtime on a Kevin Garnett jumper at the buzzer.