ATLANTA — With 1 minute, 26 seconds left in the Bulls’ 100-88 loss Sunday night to the Hawks, coach Tom Thibodeau went nose-to-nose during a timeout with referee Bennett Salvatore.
Thibodeau objected to an inadvertent whistle on Derrick Rose’s 3-point attempt with 2:27 left that had resulted in a jump ball.
It was a terrible gaffe by a veteran official at a crucial point in the game. And though Thibodeau absolved Salvatore afterward — “Bennett’s a good official and said he made a mistake. He’s human.” — the Bulls coach had every right to be peeved at the time.
I just hope Thibodeau saved some of that rancor for his team.
The Hawks came committed to making this a series, and now it is. The Bulls arrived in react mode, and now they must.
Please don’t blame a 12-point loss on one bogus whistle. Salvatore’s no-call contributed to the loss, but the Bulls’ failure to match the Hawks’ urgency ultimately caused it.
“I thought they did everything hard, the loose ball, the second shot,” Thibodeau said. “We’ve got to correct that.”
How is it a Hawks team that looked so lost and lethargic just two nights earlier on the same home floor played with such purpose in protecting it? The difference started with a subtle but significant coaching move by Larry Drew.
Drew went with a bigger lineup to back up his pregame pledge to get more physical with Derrick Rose. Drew inserted 7-footer Jason Collins in place of Marvin Williams and you sensed he would have dressed Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez if he were in town. That’s how badly Drew wanted to rough up Rose.
Rose still scored 34 points, but the Hawks made him earn every one of them. It was physical enough that Thibodeau didn’t think Rose hitting 9 of 11 free throws reflected the abuse the MVP took.
“I thought Derrick drove the ball hard (but) he didn’t get calls,” Thibodeau said, wisely planting the seed for Game 5. “From my perspective I thought he was getting fouled. If there’s contact in the restricted (area), then it should be a foul.”
More than anything, it should be a lesson. Changing to the bigger lineup sent a message to the Hawks that they weren’t going to stand idly by while the Bulls reasserted themselves as the NBA’s No. 1 seed. Even Thibodeau acknowledged “the tone of the game was set in the first quarter.”
Any confidence the Bulls had built Friday quickly vanished, all because of the way the Hawks responded to coaching.
“We came out with a sense of desperation,” Joe Johnson said.
Give the Hawks credit for showing such intensity and intelligence, two qualities they are known to have in short supply. They came determined not make this their last home game and made the adjustments necessary in the playoffs.
Your move, Thibs.
The Bulls offense stagnated again in the fourth quarter as everybody waited for Rose to pull out the red cape. The Bulls defense let Josh Smith dominate from his new role of small forward.
A bright spot? The Bulls might have found a key missing part.
For days, Carlos Boozer has been telling people that he is healthy. That he can play through any pain from the torn ligaments in his right toe — turf toe — and didn’t need a break. That he is a bigger asset than liability.
Finally, Boozer showed it.
I speak on behalf of anybody in Chicago who has watched Boozer become the city’s most polarizing athlete in saying, it’s about time.
Boozer shot with confidence from the outside. He drove with authority when crowded. He rebounded. Even his grunts had purpose.
I know Taj Gibson scored seven points and blocked three shots in a spirited five-minute stint replacing Boozer in the first half. I know Boozer drew the ire of Rose when he failed to help on a Jeff Teague baseline dunk and incurred Thibodeau’s wrath when Smith beat him in the fourth quarter. I know Boozer never will have to worry about floor burns as little as he hustles.
But I also know without Boozer’s 18 points and six rebounds, the Bulls don’t compete until late. They were better with him than without him — for the first time since the regular season.
“I thought he was real aggressive and he’s starting to feel better,” Thibodeau said. “That’s encouraging.”
It was not encouraging enough to salvage a once-promising weekend. Based on what had happened around the league after Friday night’s rout here, the Bulls had a chance to put themselves back into the conversation about legitimate title contenders.
Now, they are tied 2-2 and guaranteed one more trip because the Hawks came out more focused and physical.
Twitter @DavidHaugh
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