After Swaggering Into D.C., Bulls Limp Home

The Chicago Bulls arrived in the District with a 2-0 series lead, a trio of budding playoff stars in Andres Nocioni, Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon and a shot to crush the Washington Wizards' first-round hopes merely by earning a split of two road games.

That, however, was before Gordon fell ill with an energy-sapping cold. It was before Tyson Chandler dislocated his left ring finger during a Game 3 loss.

It was before Chris Duhon missed the team bus to Sunday's practice, then injured his back during yesterday morning's shoot-around, leaving him unable to stand up straight by the end of the night. It was before the Bulls' front court became preoccupied with the officials, before Othella Harrington clutched his head in frustration on MCI Center's floor, before Antonio Davis screamed at one referee to earn an ejection from Game 3 and did a shimmy for another during last night's 106-99, Game 4 loss that was far uglier than the final score indicated.

No, a trip to Washington couldn't be much worse than this one, so the Bulls head back to Chicago with bruised bodies and aching egos before tomorrow's now-crucial Game 5.

"They slapped us and before we knew it we were down 10, down 20," Davis said. "And before we could even gather ourselves and get back going they was pounding us again."

The Bulls fell behind by 13 points within four minutes, were down 24 at halftime and never got closer than eight until the final 30 seconds.

Gordon and Hinrich saw their shooting percentages crater, combining to go 7 of 30 from the field. Fellow guard Duhon, meantime, was limited to nine ineffective minutes and said he was unsure whether he would play tomorrow.

The front court, which continues to suffer from the absence of Eddy Curry (irregular heartbeat), was equally inept as the Wizards built their insurmountable lead. At halftime, starters Nocioni, Davis and Harrington had a total of nine points and the Wizards had amassed a 24-6 scoring advantage in the lane.

"Just to sort of wilt under what was going on out there was disappointing," Chicago Coach Scott Skiles said. "We thought we'd have a lot more life than that and we just didn't."

And while both sides heard plenty of whistles -- 64 more infractions were called in what is now the most foul-plagued series of these NBA playoffs -- the Bulls seemed particularly bothered by their foul trouble, with Harrington picking up two in the first three minutes and Davis collecting his third and fourth fouls within three seconds early in the third quarter.

All in all, the Bulls agreed in a near-silent locker room, it was not what they came to Washington to accomplish.

"For whatever reason," Hinrich said, "we didn't have the guts and just couldn't step up and make big plays."