In the end, all Bulls` coach Stan Albeck could do was shake his head and smile.
The Bulls were on the verge of losing their sixth straight game Sunday even before Charles Oakley missed a tip-in and consecutive two-foot follow-ups.
It typified the Bulls` fate in this long season of near misses.
”What else can you do?” Albeck asked after his ragtag team was victimized 120-114 by the Dallas Mavericks at the Stadium before a matinee crowd of 12,222. It was their 14th loss in the last 16 games, dropping their record to 17-37. The Bulls have not won since Feb. 1, and have only four victories in 1986. For the season, they still haven`t equaled the victory total of the Super Bowl-champion Bears.
Oakley and Dave Corzine certainly did all they could to avoid a season-high sixth straight defeat. Oakley poured in 28 points (his NBA high) and bulled for 15 rebounds. Corzine played one of the finest all-around games of his NBA career with 19 points, 15 rebounds, 9 assists and 5 blocked shots. George Gervin had 24 points and Kyle Macy 14. John Paxson added 9 assists.
Those sound like winning numbers. What happened?
Dallas succeeded behind All-Star Rolando Blackman`s 28 points and back-to-back clutch shots by Blackman and guard Brad Davis in the final two minutes after the Bulls had pulled within 109-108 on Gervin`s jumper. Blackman`s free throws down the stretch dashed any comeback hopes by the Bulls.
The Mavericks (28-23) have won 9 of their last 11 games and are gunning for Midwest Division-leading Houston.
”It`s getting too late in the season to think we played well and lost,” Corzine said. ”We need to win some games, it`s that simple right now.
”This is our home floor. We`re losing every game on our own floor. We`re going out hoping maybe we`ll win a game instead of going out expecting to win.”
In stretches, the Bulls looked like winners Sunday. Trailing 57-44 near the end of the second quarter, the Bulls went on a 14-2 binge that brought them within 59-58 early in the third quarter. A six-point spurt later in that quarter provided a 76-61 lead, but the Mavericks roared back behind Mark Aguirre and Sam Perkins to establish an 88-83 lead going into the final quarter.
Oakley went on a tear and scored 11 straight points to keep the Bulls close, but those timely baskets by Blackman and Davis after Macy`s miss and Oakley`s turnover left Dallas in charge.
”We couldn`t put them away in the first half because of Gervin`s shooting and Oakley`s rebounding,” said Mavs` coach Dick Motta. ”Rolando had a very big game for us, but I thought Oakley had a great game for them. I was really impressed with him.”
The Bulls` No. 1 draft choice is averaging 17 points and almost 12 rebounds in the last two weeks and is the lone silver lining in an ever-darkening cloud.
”Right now, he`s the terminator, Rambo and Commando all in one,” said Albeck.
At times, he was more than former De Paul star Aguirre could handle. Aguirre, who finished with 18 points, ran into a far different Oakley than the benchwarming forward he saw last month in Dallas.
”Last time in Dallas, his main job was to pass the ball,” said Aguirre. ”He`s a nice player, this Charles Oakley, a diamond in the rough. I really, really like him.”
Motta still covets Corzine. He tried to acquire him last season to operate his high-post offense.
”Things were going well, and it built up a feeling of confidence,”
Corzine said of his performance. ”You do a few things right in the beginning and you don`t worry so much about making mistakes. I fell into a rhythm. It`s a matter of getting in the flow of the game.”
He and Oakley were so involved that several times they wound up fighting each other for rebounds.
”He always tells me he is going to take my rebounds away from me,”
Oakley said. ”I tell him I`ll take his. Everything was just going my way today. I`m the kind of guy who doesn`t have to take the first shot. I`m happy to keep on the offensive boards and take second shots.
”I know people didn`t think I`d be very good after the way I started out. But I knew I could play in this league, and I figured my day would come sooner or later. I was patient, I worked hard in practice and I just waited.”
