Asked before Thursday night’s debacle if one common characteristic defined recent fourth-quarter collapses, Bulls coach Scott Skiles shrugged and settled on a failure to make big plays at big times.
The Bulls then offered more evidence in a dismal 86-83 loss to New Jersey before a United Center sellout crowd of 21,931.
With a national cable audience watching, the Bulls blew an 18-point lead to New Jersey for the second time in seven days and surrendered at least a 12-0, fourth-quarter run for the second time in as many nights.
Jason Kidd’s monster triple-double handed the Bulls their fifth loss in six games and their first home loss to an Eastern Conference team since April 6 of last season, a span of 16 games overall and 13 this season.
Kidd’s 82nd triple-double, third all-time behind Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson, featured 23 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists.
New Jersey took its first lead when Kidd swished a three-pointer from just in front of the Nets’ bench with 5:41 to play.
That came on the front end of New Jersey’s 14-0 run that turned a 74-67 Bulls lead into an 81-74 deficit. The Bulls missed seven straight shots and committed a turnover in the stretch.
Four straight points from Andres Nocioni cut the Bulls’ deficit to 81-78. But during a strong defensive possession, seldom-used Viktor Khryapa–that’s not a typo–got whistled for a dubious foul on Richard Jefferson while pursuing a rebound with 27.4 seconds remaining.
Jefferson made both free throws for an 83-78 Nets lead.
Khryapa then rebounded Nocioni’s missed three-pointer to set Nocioni up for another try, and he swished this attempt with 16.6 seconds left.
Kidd split a pair of free throws with 15.7 seconds to play, giving the Bulls another opportunity.
Just as they did last Friday night in New Jersey, the Bulls went for a quick two and Kirk Hinrich drew a foul with 11.4 seconds remaining. He hit both free throws to make it a one-point game.
Kidd stepped to the line with 10.6 seconds left and made both free throws. That forced the Bulls to attempt a game-tying three-pointer.
But Hinrich had the ball tipped by Kidd as Ben Gordon ran off of him. Hinrich recovered and pump-faked Bostjan Nachbar into the air, but Nachbar partially blocked his shot.
Nocioni led the Bulls with 28 points. Hinrich added 19 points and 10 assists.
The Bulls were beaten badly on the boards, with Mikki Moore posting a season-high 12 rebounds, six offensive. Ben Wallace managed six in a mostly invisible performance exacerbated by a sore back.
Moore added 13 points for a double-double, matched by Vince Carter with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
It has been feast or famine with Gordon on TNT this season. He shot 2 of 19 for a whopping eight points in the Bulls’ first two appearances against Miami and Cleveland, then dropped 37 points on Houston in the next.
On Thursday, he offered both dynamics. After scoring 20 points by halftime on 7 of 8 shooting, he managed just three points in the second half.
The Bulls held a double-digit lead for all but one possession of the second quarter and led 49-35 at halftime thanks to 51.3 percent shooting.
The Bulls pushed their lead to 55-37 early in the third before New Jersey ripped off a 14-1 run engineered by Kidd. He scored on a drive, hit a jumper, penetrated and passed to Carter for a three-pointer and set up Nachbar for the same.
The Nets had an earlier opportunity to come all the way back, but Jefferson missed both free throws with 2:22 remaining in the third and the Bulls up 61-59. Nocioni then split a pair of free throws and followed a Carter turnover with a three-pointer before the third ended.
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kcjohnson@tribune.com
