The deafening roars that kept washing over the United Center like waves of sound early in Thursday night’s game didn’t sound merely like ovations.
With their hint of desperation and hope, they sounded like exhalations too.
Fully aware that a 3-0 hole would push them into needing-to-make-history territory, the Bulls gulped and took a deep breath but ultimately validated the fans’ jitters, not joy.
A dramatic second-half collapse only reinforced what the first two blowouts in this Eastern Conference semifinal series had suggested: The Pistons are the far superior team.
Detroit’s 81-74 victory gave them a 3-0 stranglehold and placed the Bulls in the precarious position of trying to become the first team in NBA history to win a best-of-seven series with such a deficit.
The Pistons’ coronation could come as early as Sunday’s Game 4.
Trailing by as many as 19 in the third quarter, the Pistons methodically attacked and advanced down the stretch with little resistance.
Chauncey Billups’ three-pointer with 6 minutes 57 seconds remaining snapped a 66-66 tie and the Bulls never led again.
Ben Gordon, who failed to score in the fourth quarter, followed with a turnover. After the teams traded possessions in which P.J. Brown made one of two free throws, Rasheed Wallace followed with another three.
Following another turnover, this one by Kirk Hinrich, Billups drained another jumper for a 74-67 advantage.
Andres Nocioni put the demoralizing final touch on the defeat when he missed two free throws with 84 seconds remaining and the Bulls down 76-71.
The Bulls shot 4 of 25 in the fourth quarter and scored just 13 points. They went scoreless from the 3:17 mark of the fourth until Luol Deng made a superfluous three-point play with 3.1 seconds remaining.
“You’d have to be blind not to think their experience has been some sort of factor,” coach Scott Skiles said beforehand. “They have won [nine] games in a row. They have gone about their end-of-season business in a very professional workmanlike manner, which is what we did in the first round.
“They have clearly outclassed us out there. Experience has to be near the top of the list for reasons why.”
Execution is another. The Bulls simply couldn’t run their offense in the fourth quarter.
Deng scored 21 to lead the Bulls, who shot 33.7 percent and have failed to crack 35 percent all series.
Tayshaun Prince’s 23 points and 11 rebounds paced the Pistons. Billups added 21 points and seven assists.
The Bulls talked about desperately needing to start better, and they did. Right from the start, the Bulls blocked out more conscientiously, defended more intensely and attacked the rim with ferocity.
Though they led just 20-18 after one quarter, the Bulls finally announced to the Pistons that they came to play.
The Bulls’ big run came late in the second quarter.
Leading 26-24, the Bulls ripped off an 18-2 spurt capped by Luol Deng’s three-point play with 16.3 seconds remaining that seemed symbolic of their extra effort.
Deng’s baseline drive and first shot was thwarted and blocked by Jason Maxiell. But Deng fought for the loose ball, scored and got fouled by Carlos Delfino.
Gordon hopped around and beat his chest like a school kid, showing more emotion after that play than he had after coolly draining a game-winning shot to beat the Pacers on the road on March 25.
Gordon scored six, Deng five and P.J. Brown four in the run. But what stood out far more than the offense was the commitment on the defensive end. The Bulls hounded the Pistons into 1-of-7 shooting with three turnovers during the run.
Hamilton’s free throws with 3.7 seconds left in the first half stopped the spurt, but the Bulls led 44-28 at the break.
That lead disappeared in a hurry.
The Pistons ripped off a 15-2 third-quarter run as the Bulls missed 6 of 7 shots and committed three turnovers. Prince scored eight in the spurt and Billups added five, but it was the Pistons’ defense that smothered.
With the Pistons employing a zone with some man-to-man principles, Gordon, in particular, struggled, committing two turnovers and shooting an air ball out of the corner.
When Rasheed Wallace beat the third-quarter buzzer with a three-pointer, the Bulls’ lead had shrunk to 61-60, setting up the wild fourth quarter.
Wallace’s baseline jumper over Deng with 10:11 to play gave the Pistons their first lead since 6-4.
It wasn’t their last. “I think the week off after our first-round sweeps affected us and helped them,” Deng said before the game. “They’ve won the championship. They’ve been to the Finals. So they knew how to handle that layoff and attention better than we did.”
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kcjohnson@tribune.com
