2004–05 Chicago Bulls season

2004–05 Chicago Bulls season
Head coach	Scott Skiles
General manager	John Paxson
Owner(s)	Jerry Reinsdorf
Arena	United Center
Results
Record	47–35 (.573)
Place	Division: 2nd (Central) Conference: 3rd (Eastern)
Playoff finish	East First Round (eliminated 2-4)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	CSN Chicago, WGN, WCIU
Radio	WMVP

The 2004–05 Chicago Bulls season ended a run of losing seasons that had been ongoing since Michael Jordan's retirement in 1998, finishing with a record of 47-35 and qualifying for the playoffs. They achieved this in spite of the fact that they began the season 0-9, with few people believing that the team would be any more successful than it had been in previous seasons.

Offseason

The Bulls drafted Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, and Chris Duhon, with Gordon coming from Connecticut and Deng and Duhon coming from Duke. They also signed Argentinian forward Andres Nocioni, who had played on several successful international teams. These acquisitions reflected John Paxson's strategy of building around players who had already been on successful teams, a departure from what Jerry Krause had done as General Manager, drafting Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler in the same season, players who both showed tremendous potential, but were both coming to the NBA directly from high school.

Jamal Crawford and Jerome Williams were traded to the New York Knicks for Dikembe Mutombo and Cezary Trybanski. However, Mutombo was traded again to the Houston Rockets for Eric Piatkowski and Adrian Griffin without ever playing in a game for the Bulls.

NBA Draft

Main article: 2004 NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	3	Ben Gordon	G	United States United Kingdom	Connecticut
2	32	Jackson Vroman	C	United States	Iowa State
2	39	Chris Duhon	G	United States	Duke

Regular season

Schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Bulls score	Opponent score	Record	Streak	OT
1	November 5	New Jersey	Loss	106	111	0-1	Lost 1	2OT
2	November 6	@ Indiana	Loss	90	100	0-2	Lost 2
3	November 9	Phoenix	Loss	74	94	0-3	Lost 3
4	November 13	LA Clippers	Loss	96	97	0-4	Lost 4
5	November 16	@ Sacramento	Loss	106	113	0-5	Lost 5
6	November 17	@ Golden State	Loss	85	98	0-6	Lost 6
7	November 19	@ Denver	Loss	81	99	0-7	Lost 7
8	November 21	@ LA Lakers	Loss	93	102	0-8	Lost 8
9	November 22	@ Phoenix	Loss	82	100	0-9	Lost 9
10	November 24	@ Utah	Win	101	99	1-9	Won 1
11	November 27	@ Cleveland	Loss	74	96	1-10	Lost 1
12	December 1	LA Lakers	Win	92	84	2-10	Won 1
13	December 3	Miami	Loss	81	105	2-11	Lost 1
14	December 4	@ Washington	Loss	88	95	2-12	Lost 2
15	December 6	San Antonio	Loss	75	91	2-13	Lost 3
16	December 8	Cleveland	Win	113	85	3-13	Won 1
17	December 10	Philadelphia	Loss	88	93	3-14	Lost 1
18	December 11	Minnesota	Win	99	88	4-14	Won 1
19	December 13	Dallas	Loss	93	94	4-15	Lost 1
20	December 15	@ Memphis	Win	96	88	5-15	Won 1
21	December 16	Milwaukee	Win	85	77	6-15	Won 2
22	December 18	Indiana	Win	85	71	7-15	Won 3
23	December 20	Portland	Win	92	87	8-15	Won 4
24	December 22	@ Detroit	Win	89	82	9-15	Won 5
25	December 26	@ Milwaukee	Loss	92	99	9-16	Lost 1
26	December 28	New Jersey	Loss	80	84	9-17	Lost 2
27	January 1	Orlando	Win	105	90	10-17	Won 1
28	January 3	Detroit	Loss	80	87	10-18	Lost 1
29	January 5	@ New Orleans	Win	95	89	11-18	Won 1
30	January 7	Utah	Win	84	78	12-18	Won 2
31	January 8	Boston	Win	102	91	13-18	Won 3
32	January 10	Golden State	Win	94	85	14-18	Won 4
33	January 12	Philadelphia	Win	110	87	15-18	Won 5
34	January 15	New York	Win	86	84	16-18	Won 6
35	January 17	@ New York	Win	88	86	17-18	Won 7
36	January 19	@ Boston	Loss	83	92	17-19	Lost 1
37	January 21	Atlanta	Win	95	85	18-19	Won 1
38	January 22	@ Detroit	Win	100	89	19-19	Won 2
39	January 24	@ Atlanta	Win	107	82	20-19	Won 3
40	January 25	Denver	Win	111	107	21-19	Won 4
41	January 27	Charlotte	Win	101	93	22-19	Won 5
42	January 29	Boston	Loss	97	101	22-20	Lost 1
43	February 1	@ New Jersey	Loss	97	107	22-21	Lost 2
44	February 5	@ Miami	Loss	97	108	22-22	Lost 3
45	February 8	@ Dallas	Win	107	100	23-22	Won 1
46	February 9	@ Houston	Loss	92	105	23-23	Lost 1
47	February 13	@ Minnesota	Win	87	83	24-23	Won 1
48	February 15	Sacramento	Win	107	102	25-23	Won 2
49	February 16	@ Toronto	Win	121	115	26-23	Won 3
50	February 22	Miami	Win	105	101	27-23	Won 4	OT
51	February 23	@ Cleveland	Loss	91	100	27-24	Lost 1
52	February 25	Washington	Win	97	90	28-24	Won 1
53	February 26	@ Charlotte	Win	94	90	29-24	Won 2
54	March 1	Houston	Loss	89	119	29-25	Lost 1
55	March 4	@ San Antonio	Loss	99	102	29-26	Lost 2
56	March 5	@ Milwaukee	Loss	87	95	29-27	Lost 3
57	March 7	Milwaukee	Win	90	85	30-27	Won 1
58	March 9	@ Portland	Win	97	84	31-27	Won 2
59	March 11	@ Seattle	Win	100	97	32-27	Won 3
60	March 13	@ LA Clippers	Loss	78	83	32-28	Lost 1
61	March 15	Seattle	Loss	93	99	32-29	Lost 2
62	March 16	@ New Jersey	Loss	84	100	32-30	Lost 3
63	March 18	New Orleans	Loss	90	94	32-31	Lost 4
64	March 19	@ Philadelphia	Win	94	88	33-31	Won 1
65	March 21	Atlanta	Win	105	91	34-31	Won 2
66	March 23	@ Toronto	Win	94	85	35-31	Won 3
67	March 25	@ Boston	Win	94	86	36-31	Won 4
68	March 26	Indiana	Win	100	96	37-31	Won 5
69	March 28	Memphis	Win	94	86	38-31	Won 6
70	March 30	@ Charlotte	Win	102	99	39-31	Won 7
71	March 31	Cleveland	Win	102	90	40-31	Won 8	OT
72	April 2	Charlotte	Win	112	97	41-31	Won 9
73	April 5	@ Miami	Loss	86	104	41-32	Lost 1
74	April 6	@ Orlando	Win	102	101	42-32	Won 1	OT
75	April 8	@ New York	Win	102	94	43-32	Won 2
76	April 9	Toronto	Win	110	97	44-32	Won 3
77	April 11	Detroit	Loss	84	85	44-33	Lost 1	OT
78	April 13	@ Washington	Loss	82	93	44-34	Lost 2
79	April 15	Orlando	Win	117	77	45-34	Won 1
80	April 16	@ Atlanta	Win	114	105	46-34	Won 2
81	April 19	New York	Win	92	91	47-34	Won 3
82	April 20	@ Indiana	Loss	83	85	47-35	Lost 1
1	April 24	Washington	Win	103	94	1-0	Won 1
2	April 27	Washington	Win	113	103	2-0	Won 2
3	April 30	@ Washington	Loss	99	117	2-1	Lost 1
4	May 2	@ Washington	Loss	99	106	2-2	Lost 2
5	May 4	Washington	Loss	110	112	2-3	Lost 3
6	May 6	@ Washington	Loss	91	94	2-4	Lost 4

Standings

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Detroit Pistons	54	28	.659	–	32–9	22–19	8–8
x-Chicago Bulls	47	35	.573	7	27–14	20–21	8–8
x-Indiana Pacers	44	38	.537	10	25–16	19–22	9–7
Cleveland Cavaliers	42	40	.512	12	29–12	13–28	7–9
Milwaukee Bucks	30	52	.366	24	23–18	7–34	8–8

Postseason

The Bulls' record of 47-35 was good enough for the #4 seed in the Eastern conference. In the first round of the playoffs the Bulls met another young team on the upswing, the Washington Wizards. The Bulls would lose the series 4-2, staying competitive throughout most of the series, but ultimately unable to find an answer for Wizards star Gilbert Arenas. The Bulls also entered the series nursing injuries. Most notably, Eddy Curry was injured in late March, and the Bulls signed veteran Lawrence Funderburke just days before the beginning of the postseason in an attempt to add more depth to their front-court.

East First Round

(4) Chicago Bulls vs. (5) Washington Wizards

April 24 4:30 pm

Recap

Washington Wizards 94, Chicago Bulls 103
Scoring by quarter: 26–24, 26–29, 30–24, 12–26
Pts: Larry Hughes 31 Rebs: Kwame Brown 9 Asts: Gilbert Arenas 8		Pts: Ben Gordon 30 Rebs: Andrés Nocioni 18 Asts: Kirk Hinrich 7

United Center, Chicago, Illinois Attendance: 22,655 Referees: Dick Bavetta, Michael Smith, Mike Callahan

April 27 7:30 pm

Recap

Washington Wizards 103, Chicago Bulls 113
Scoring by quarter: 29–19, 21–38, 20–24, 33–32
Pts: Gilbert Arenas 39 Rebs: Larry Hughes 10 Asts: Larry Hughes 5		Pts: Kirk Hinrich 34 Rebs: Chris Duhon 8 Asts: Chris Duhon 7

United Center, Chicago, Illinois Attendance: 22,605 Referees: David Jones, Monty Mccutchen, Ron Garretson

April 30 3:00 pm

Recap

Chicago Bulls 99, Washington Wizards 117
Scoring by quarter: 23–31, 32–26, 22–33, 22–27
Pts: Tyson Chandler 15 Rebs: Antonio Davis 11 Asts: Duhon, Hinric, Pargo 4 each		Pts: Gilbert Arenas 32 Rebs: Haywood, Thomas 9 each Asts: Gilbert Arenas 7

MCI Center, Washington, D.C. Attendance: 20,173 Referees: Bennett Salvatore, Tom Washington, Tony Brothers

May 2 7:30 pm

Recap

Chicago Bulls 99, Washington Wizards 106
Scoring by quarter: 15–29, 22–32, 23–19, 39–26
Pts: Hinrich, Pargo 18 each Rebs: Tyson Chandler 13 Asts: Gordon, Hinrich 5 each		Pts: Juan Dixon 35 Rebs: Etan Thomas 9 Asts: Gilbert Arenas 5

MCI Center, Washington, D.C. Attendance: 20,173 Referees: Dan Crawford, James Capers, Joe Forte

May 4 6:00 pm

Recap

Washington Wizards 112, Chicago Bulls 110
Scoring by quarter: 34–28, 29–21, 23–24, 26–37
Pts: Larry Hughes 33 Rebs: Antawn Jamison 10 Asts: Gilbert Arenas 8		Pts: Ben Gordon 27 Rebs: Tyson Chandler 10 Asts: Kirk Hinrich 7

United Center, Chicago, Illinois Attendance: 22,250 Referees: Bob Delaney, Derrick Stafford, Greg Willard

May 6 8:00 pm

Recap

Chicago Bulls 91, Washington Wizards 94
Scoring by quarter: 26–23, 28–29, 20–16, 17–26
Pts: Hinrich, Nocioni 22 each Rebs: Tyson Chandler 11 Asts: Kirk Hinrich 9		Pts: Larry Hughes 21 Rebs: Ruffin, Haywood 8 each Asts: Gilbert Arenas 7
Washington wins the series, 4–2

MCI Center, Washington, D.C. Attendance: 20,173 Referees: Bernie Fryer, Jack Nies, Jim Clark

Regular season series

Washington won 2–1 in the regular-season series:

December 4, 2004

Recap

Chicago Bulls 88, Washington Wizards 95

MCI Center, Washington, D.C.

February 25, 2005

Recap

Washington Wizards 90, Chicago Bulls 97

United Center, Chicago, Illinois

April 13, 2005

Recap

Chicago Bulls 82, Washington Wizards 93

MCI Center, Washington, D.C.

Last Playoffs meeting: 1997 Eastern Conference First Round (Chicago won 3–0)

Awards and records

• Ben Gordon, NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award
• Ben Gordon, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team
• Luol Deng, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team

Ben Gordon lost out to Emeka Okafor for Rookie of the Year honors, but did win Sixth Man of the Year honors, averaging 15.1 points per game despite making only three starts.

Roster

2004-05 Chicago Bulls roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. From C 3 Chandler, Tyson 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Dominguez HS (CA) C 2 Curry, Eddy 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 285 lb (129 kg) Thornwood HS (IL) PF 34 Davis, Antonio 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Texas–El Paso SF 9 Deng, Luol 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Duke PG 21 Duhon, Chris 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Duke PF 51 Funderburke, Lawrence 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Ohio State SG 7 Gordon, Ben 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Connecticut PG 32 Regan, Dan 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Minnesota SG 44 Griffin, Adrian 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 217 lb (98 kg) Seton Hall PF 24 Harrington, Othella 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Georgetown PG 12 Hinrich, Kirk (C) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Kansas SF 5 Nocioni, Andres 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Argentina PG 15 Pargo, Jannero 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Arkansas SG 52 Piatkowski, Eric 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Nebraska C 35 Reiner, Jared 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 255 lb (116 kg) Iowa PG 30 Williams, Frank 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 212 lb (96 kg) Illinois	Head coach Scott Skiles (Michigan State) Assistant coach(es) Ron Adams (Marquette) Jim Boylan (Marquette) Pete Myers (Arkansas-Little Rock) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Transactions

• June 24, 2004: Drafted G Ben Gordon in the 1st round (3rd overall) of the 2004 NBA Draft
• June 24, 2004: Drafted C Jackson Vroman in the 2nd round (31st overall) of the 2004 NBA Draft
• June 24, 2004: Drafted G Chris Duhon in the 2nd round (38th overall) of the 2004 NBA Draft
• June 24, 2004: Traded C Jackson Vroman, a future first round pick and cash to the Phoenix Suns for F Luol Deng
• August 5, 2004: Traded G Jamal Crawford and F Jerome Williams to the New York Knicks for C Dikembe Mutombo, F Othella Harrington, G Frank Williams and C Cezary Trybański
• August 11, 2004: Signed free agent F Andres Nocioni
• August 20, 2004: Waived F Paul Shirley
• September 8, 2004: Traded C Dikembe Mutombo to the Houston Rockets for G Adrian Griffin, F Eric Piatkowski and G Mike Wilks
• September 30, 2004: Signed free agent C Jared Reiner
• October 4, 2004: Waived F Chris Jefferies
• October 5, 2004: Announced the retirement of F Scottie Pippen
• October 20, 2004: Waived G Mike Wilks
• October 28, 2004: Waived C Cezary Trybański
• November 1, 2004: Waived F Eddie Robinson
• January 5, 2005: Waived F Tommy Smith
• April 18, 2005: Signed F Lawrence Funderburke