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Thursday, Dec. 28 8:30pm ET
Mercer, Bulls net rare home victory

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

CHICAGO (AP) -- Let the San Antonio Spurs say they played soft. The Chicago Bulls will take this victory -- and they'll take it with pride.

Ron Mercer
Chicago's Ron Mercer scores against David Robinson during Thursday's game.
Ron Mercer scored 24 of his 33 points in the second half, including the go-ahead 17-foot jumper with 52 seconds to go, as the Chicago Bulls beat the San Antonio Spurs 105-104 on Thursday night.

Brad Miller sealed the victory by making two free throws with four seconds left.

"It was just great for the whole team," Mercer said. "Just great. Period."

With a roster full of youngsters and very few veterans, the Bulls needed their best game of the year to beat San Antonio. They got it, shooting a season-best 54 percent (42-of-78).

Elton Brand had 22 points before fouling out with 1:45 to go, and Miller finished with 11 points and six rebounds. Bryce Drew had 12 points and 11 assists.

It was only the second win at home this season for the Bulls. They beat Orlando on Nov. 9.

"It was a terrific win for our guys," coach Tim Floyd said. "Hopefully we can build off of this."

The Spurs, meanwhile, have to figure out where they go from here. They're losing ground on the Western Conference leaders, and coach Gregg Popovich is disgusted with the way his team is playing.

"I'm officially declaring us a soft team -- both mentally and physically," Popovich said. "It's everybody's fault, coaches and players alike. We need to decide from this point if we want to do something about it."

The Spurs shot 53 percent (36-of-68), but they turned the ball over 14 times and only outrebounded the Bulls 32-29.

David Robinson led the Spurs with 28 points and eight rebounds, Tim Duncan scored 25 and Derek Anderson 15.

"This was straight out of left field because we really felt like we had been playing better basketball," Robinson said. "And then to come in here and not play even close to the way we're capable of playing."

The Spurs had plenty of chances. Danny Ferry gave San Antonio an 80-72 lead with 10:31 left on a 21-foot jumper, but Mercer rallied the Bulls. He scored Chicago's first eight points of the fourth quarter, and his jumper with 8:27 left cut San Antonio's margin to 83-80.

Terry Porter hit a 14-footer to give San Antonio a 96-93 lead, but Brand scored on an 11-foot jumper, and then Drew made a 3-pointer to give Chicago a 98-97 lead with 2:38 left.

"The last three or four minutes in the fourth quarter, we were there," Mercer said. "We just tried to make our shots at the end and not give the game away."

San Antonio looked like it might escape when Brand fouled out. Duncan made the free throws, and San Antonio had a 101-100 lead with 1:45 to play.

But the Spurs were called for illegal defense, and Fred Hoiberg made the free throw to tie it. Robinson was fouled by Miller, but missed the first free throw.

That set up Mercer's jumper, and the Bulls' reserves jumped to their feet as the ball swished through. The sellout crowd of 21,793 cheered like it was the good old days at the United Center.

"Ron Mercer was outstanding," Floyd said. "He made big shot after big shot down the stretch."

The Spurs had one more try, but Anderson missed a jumper with about 30 seconds left, and then was called for the loose-ball foul on Miller.

"I hope we can learn from this," Floyd said. "The only difference in this game and the last six or seven at home is we didn't beat ourselves down the stretch. That's something young teams fall prey to."

Old teams, too.

"When you lose a game like this, what else can you say?" Robinson said. "This is all about coming in mentally prepared and doing your job, and we didn't do it."

Game notes
Former Bulls player Steve Kerr drew a huge cheer when he entered the game with a little more than two minutes left in the first quarter. ... Daniels left the game at halftime with a sore right Achilles and did not return. He had five points and four assists in 17 minutes. ... Chicago is 8-2 under Floyd when it scores 100 or more points.


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RECAPS
Milwaukee 107
Cleveland 89

Boston 112
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Orlando 102
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Dallas 105
LA Clippers 96

Minnesota 88
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Portland 103
Utah 102

Chicago 105
San Antonio 104

Toronto 94
Denver 93

LA Lakers 115
Phoenix 78

Sacramento 91
Charlotte 87


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