CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In his third game against his former team, Tyrus Thomas downplayed any extra motivation, although he did admit his big game “tasted a little better.”
His team’s owner, guy by the name of Michael Jordan, cracked a joke about Thomas’ extra intensity in a brief, casual postgame stop with Chicago reporters.
Whatever the case, Thomas seemed to be in the middle of every big play from the Bobcats’ come-from-ahead, come-from-behind 96-91 victory over the Bulls.
His wild reverse with 1 minute, 14 seconds left pushed the Bobcats ahead for good. Following a Derrick Rose miss, Thomas battled Ronnie Brewer into the seats for the ensuing loose ball, slapping palms with courtside customers when video review upheld Thomas knocking the ball off Brewer.
For good measure, Thomas made one of two free throws with his nose bloodied by a Luol Deng flagrant foul on the final possession of the first half. He finished with 17 points, a season-high 13 rebounds and two blocks.
“Half the people over there ain’t there no more, but it always feels good to beat your old team,” Thomas said. “I haven’t been playing the minutes I want to. But I’m in there when it counts so I have an opportunity to win games for us.”
The Bulls came up small down the stretch after erasing a 17-point, first-half deficit to lead 80-75 on a 3-pointer from Kyle Korver — who played well in his return to a normal rotation role — with just more than eight minutes remaining.
Carlos Boozer, who led the Bulls with 23 points and 14 rebounds, missed an open dunk with 6:21 left, indicative of their offensive struggles late. Deng, who scored 22, went scoreless in the fourth.
Rose, battling a cold, missed four of five shots and struggled to 17 points and seven assists on 5-for-17 shooting.
“We let it slip,” Rose said.
After Rose’s last miss, Stephen Jackson, 5-for-16 at the time, buried a jumper over Deng and Rose followed with a turnover. D.J. Augustin iced matters with four free throws as part of his team-high 22 points.
The Bobcats, now 6-2 under Paul Silas, set the tone early with 36 first-quarter points. The Bulls’ woeful defense seemed to try to justify Jordan once making Kwame Brown the No. 1 pick in the draft by letting Brown get deep post position en route to 10 first-quarter points.
“When he catches the ball with two feet in the paint, 4 feet from the basket he’s going to score,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Everyone always says this league is the last five minutes. No it’s not. It’s readiness to play.
“We’re dodging bullets. We have to come out with a lot more intensity. And we have to guard people to start the game.”
