For three quarters Wednesday night at the United Center, the Bulls looked about as interested as Dwight Howard.
Then the diminutive dynamo that is Nate Robinson happened. And Joakim Noah started jumping into photographers and cheerleaders to save basketballs. And Jimmy Butler did another Luol Deng impersonation.
It all added up to a stirring 85-82 comeback over the Pistons, the Bulls' 17th straight victory in this series. It also marked the second time in just more than a month the Bulls erased a 17-point deficit to prevail.
With the game tied and the seconds ticking down, Noah somehow saved a loose ball that was sailing out of bounds off Marco Belinelli's missed jumper, feeding Belinelli as Noah landed among photographers and cheerleaders. Belinelli took Noah's pass and scored with 7.5 seconds left, converting the three-point play after Rodney Stuckey fouled him.
"I scored, but the credit goes to Jo," said Belinelli, who scored his second game-winner in four games.
"Quite frankly, I don't know he got to it," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "It was an incredible play."
The Bulls then watched tying 3-point attempts from Tayshuan Prince and Stuckey rim out as time expired. Reaching the season's halfway point at 25-16, the Bulls are on pace for 50 victories.
Robinson's boundless energy can delve into extracurricular emotion, but there's no denying he jump-started the comeback. Robinson keyed a 12-2 run to open the fourth with nine straight points and a dish for a fast-break dunk from Butler, who tied his career-highs with 18 points and nine rebounds. Butler, starting again for the injured Luol Deng, played all but 91 seconds and also had four assists.
"Jimmy just kept working the game," Thibodeau said. "He never got down. He kept battling and battling."
Robinson finished with 11 points. Noah played 45 minutes with 10 points and 18 rebounds.
"That's Nate. He made a lot of big-time plays for us," Thibodeau said. "He's not afraid. I respect that about him.
"The group that started the fourth quarter played with energy, got some stops and got us going.
The Bulls took their first lead since 2-0 on Taj Gibson's tip-in midway through the fourth. But the Pistons battled back, leading 80-79 on Stuckey's jumper with just more than two minutes remaining. Butler hit a huge 3-pointer — the Bulls missed their first 10 and made just 3-of-14 — for an 82-80 lead, but Jason Maxiell tied the game with 29.4 seconds left off a defensive breakdown.
"We didn't play our best but we found a way to win in the end," Thibodeau said. "That's the type of stuff you have to do. I think we showed some perseverance. They had a lot to do with the way we played. In the end, we had a lot of guys step up and make big plays for us."
The Bulls trailed 12-2 before Thibodeau even had started screaming himself hoarse. They missed their final eight shots of the first quarter and committed five turnovers.
The wheels came off to open the third. Kyle Singler scored and got fouled, missing the free throw. But Greg Monroe rebounded the miss and scored while being fouled for a four-point possession, which could have been more if Monroe hadn't also missed his free throw.
Then came a Richard Hamilton turnover and Brandon Knight driving coast-to-coast for a layup with no resistance that produced a 17-point lead and angry timeout from Thibodeau.
kcjohnson@tribune.com
Twitter @kcjhoop
Bulls rally to beat Pistons 85-82
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Bulls rally to beat Pistons 85-82
