Dirk on Kirk after Bulls’ loss: ‘One of the dumber fouls I’ve ever seen’

SHARE Dirk on Kirk after Bulls’ loss: ‘One of the dumber fouls I’ve ever seen’

Late Tuesday night, Tom Thibodeau and Kirk Hinrich were fighting over who should take the bullet.

In the end, give it to Hinrich, who, though appreciative of his coach’s effort to shield him, knew exactly where the finger should be pointed.

“This one is on me,’’ Hinrich said after the Bulls’ 132-129 double-overtime loss to the Dallas Mavericks. “It’s disappointing because I feel like we played a great game to that point. To be at the point where we’re in the position to win, and for them to tie it up on a play like that … it was a bad decision.’’

The loss dropped the Bulls’ record to 11-7, and they’re 2-4 at the United Center.

With 1.2 seconds left in regulation and the Bulls up by three, Hinrich fouled Monta Ellis as he was throwing up a desperation three in the vicinity of the rim. Three free throws later, Ellis and the Mavericks (14-5) were back in business.

“That was my fault because we wanted to take the foul, and I wasn’t clear enough about how and where,’’ Thibodeau said. “Obviously, we wanted to take it in the backcourt. They were out of timeouts, but it gets tricky as they get into the scoring area if a guy is facing you. That’s my fault.’’

Hinrich appreciated Thibodeau’s mea culpa, but he assumed the responsibility.

“I’ve been around 12 years,’’ Hinrich said. “I know better than that. It’s one of those things where it’s just a bad play. You can’t do that against any team in this league, let alone a team like that. [Thibodeau] can say that, but I know better than that. It’s on me. I guess I learn from it and move on.’’

Future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki was asked about the play and said: “They think they had the game won, and they foul Monta off the dribble, which in my 17 years is one of the dumber fouls I’ve ever seen.

“I saw coach Thibodeau was just shaking his head. They thought they had it won in regular time, and we thought in the first overtime we had ’em.’’

Derrick Rose made a three-pointer off the glass at the horn to extend the game another five minutes.

It was an interesting night for Rose, who played 36 minutes and change, scoring 18 points and handing out 10 assists. But he also shot only 6-for-20 from the field, including 4-for-11 from three-point range, and turned the ball over 10 times.

Besides admitting that his shot off the glass was lucky, Rose said he’s still in a learning process.

“Still haven’t, in the fourth quarter, taken over like I’ve really wanted to, but I know it’s going to be there soon,’’ Rose said. “I’m just getting a feel for the game. We have numerous guys on this team that can really take care of the game, and that’s big.’’

The Bulls were led by Pau Gasol, who scored 29 points and grabbed 14 rebounds but played 50 minutes.

When asked about the availability of Rose, Gasol and Joakim Noah for the game Wednesday in Charlotte, Thibodeau said, “We’ll see.’’

Email: jcowley@suntimes.com

Twitter: @suntimes_hoops

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