At the tail end of the 1993-94 season, the Pistons lost 13 straight games with a 23-year-old rookie named Lindsey Hunter beginning his long NBA journey.
Close to 16 years later, here’s how bad it again has become for Detroit, which succumbed meekly for the 13th straight time in Monday’s 120-87 loss to the Bulls.
Hunter played the final 7 minutes, 11 seconds, and the 39-year-old usually only toils for the Bulls when a game is out of hand.
That’s back-to-back laughers for the Bulls, who also posted a season high in points for the second straight game and enjoyed their largest margin of victory.
With Luc Longley, a member of the Bulls’ 1996-98 championship teams, sitting courtside in a rare appearance, the Bulls passed the century mark with a whopping 10:19 remaining and shot a season-best 57.1 percent with a season-high 29 assists.
The Bulls’ 21 fast-break points fell one short of another season high in a game in which they led by as many as 37.
“We know what can happen if we let up,” said John Salmons in a nod to blowing a 35-point lead against the Kings. “But it’s nice to have one of these.”
Ben Gordon’s second return to the United Center transpired in uneventful fashion. He missed his only shot in seven minutes and sat the entire second half with a strained right groin.
Gordon — and Tayshaun Prince, who sat with a sore knee — had a good seat to watch several former teammates post huge nights.
Luol Deng sank 13 of 18 shots and scored a game- and season-high-tying 27 points. Derrick Rose had 22 points and nine assists in 25 efficient minutes. And Joakim Noah tallied 16 points and 11 rebounds for his 18th double-double — one more than in his first two seasons combined.
“At practice, we’ve been going hard at each other,” Rose said. “That’s starting to pay off. We’re playing a lot more aggressively and not passing up any shots.”
Salmons’ 17 points also led a spirited bench effort, which even featured Jannero Pargo drawing first-quarter minutes because Kirk Hinrich suffered early foul trouble.
Tyrus Thomas entered active and energetic in tallying seven points and three steals in his first eight minutes before leaving after getting poked in the eye. He returned for the second half and finished with a career-high six steals as the reserves outscored Detroit’s 42-26.
Everybody but Brad Miller scored.
“You like that?” Miller deadpanned.
The Bulls led 61-47 at halftime then kicked things into overdrive by shooting a ridiculous 70.6 percent in the third quarter. Rose scored 12 points, Noah added 10 and Salmons stroked three 3-pointers in the period.
“Our ball movement and shooting was probably as good as it’s been,” coach Vinny Del Negro said. “We came out aggressive, and it was another solid team effort. Luol came out aggressive. Derrick had nice arc on his jumper. We caught Detroit at the right time.”
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kcjohnson@tribune.com
