What appeared to be three free throws coming for Derrick Rose with the Bulls down six instead got ruled an inadvertent whistle by official Bennett Salvatore, leading to a jump ball that the Hawks won and cashed in for two points.
And if you think that play defined the Bulls’ late collapse in the Hawks’ 100-88 victory on Sunday night at Philips Arena, there were actually plenty more to choose from, including a technical foul with 18.3 seconds left when Thibodeau called a time-out that the Bulls didn’t have.
“That was my mistake,” Thibodeau said. “I thought we had one more.”
The Hawks evened the Eastern Conference semifinal series by closing Game Four with a 16-4 run, setting up a critical Game Five on Tuesday night at the United Center. The first 10 points of the Hawks’ game-closing run came on lay-ups or dunks.
“We got our asses kicked,” Joakim Noah said. “We started feeling good about ourselves and that’s what happens. They played harder than us. It’s on us to come back with a better edge on Tuesday.”
Jeff Teague snapped an 84-84 tie with a driving lay-up with four minutes and nine seconds left, which started the Bulls’ demise.
Rose, who had 34 points and 10 assists but shot 12-for-32, missed on a drive. Kyle Korver, just one-for-eight, tried to take a charge on Teague, who dished to Al Horford for a lay-up with 3:47 remaining. Rose drove and appeared to draw contact from Horford with 3:37 left but no call came. Following a Joe Johnson miss, Rose turned it over and Horford snuck inside for a lay-up with 2:41 to play.
Following a time-out, Salvatore’s inadvertent whistle came.
“I thought it was a foul,” Thibodeau said.
That’s not the only time Thibodeau disagreed with officiating. Rose shot 11 free throws but Thibodeau wanted more.
“I’m anxious to see the replay,” he said. “From my perspective, I thought he was getting fouled. Maybe he wasn’t going hard enough. When he’s making the plays and scoring, everyone is saying how great he is. He was aggressive. I didn’t have any problem with the way he played. He kept driving.”
Unfortunately, the Bulls didn’t keep rotating. Their defensive breakdowns were massive down the stretch. Johnson led the Hawks with 24 points. Josh Smith added 23 and Horford 20, as the Bulls surrendered 49.4-percent shooting and 56 points in the paint.
“When you put two on the ball, you have to protect the paint and then react out,” Thibodeau said. “It requires great intensity, multiple effort. And when you shortcut it, you’re going to give up something easy.”
As hinted, the Hawks tweaked their lineup, starting Jason Collins at center and shifting Horford to power forward and Smith to small forward in an attempt for more rebounding and physical play. Carlos Boozer burned Collins early and had a nice bounce-back game with 18 points, as Collins got replaced by Zaza Pachulia, who delivered a hard foul on Taj Gibson and drew a technical.
“The tone of the game was set in the first quarter,” Thibodeau said. “It was a much more physical game. We didn’t react. They did everything hard—the loose ball, the second shot, the fight. We didn’t finish the game. And we paid the price.”
