Luol Deng battled a stomach virus, cramping from dehydration and foul trouble Tuesday night, finally succumbing to his sixth foul with 33.6 seconds left in overtime against the Bobcats.
Those factors limited Deng to 28 minutes 42 seconds, which wasn't a good thing given that he resembled the slashing presence of old en route to 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting. "I felt great," Deng said. "I thought I was moving well without the ball and taking smart shots with my jumper."
Deng suffered the lower-leg cramp with 3:03 left in regulation, stretched it out but didn't return until 1:52 remained in overtime.
"I tried to drink a lot of water and stay with it," he said.
Charity chatter: The Bulls are shooting .803 from the free-throw line and are on pace to shatter the franchise record of .790 set in 1970-71. Ben Gordon, Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden are above 80 percent.
"You have to shoot free throws well," said coach Vinny Del Negro, a career 83.9 percent from the line. "We have drills to get to the line and try to make it competitive and fun, but it's also very serious. We try to hone in on that."
Familiar face: Bernie Bickerstaff spent pregame talking to old friends after spending the previous four seasons in Bobcats management. Bickerstaff went 77-169 in three seasons as the team's inaugural coach and served as vice president of Basketball operations last season.
"You don't have that much tape," Del Negro said to a reporter when asked how Bickerstaff has helped him. "Bernie's great with players. He's a big factor in what we're doing and has been a great help for me."
Bulls' big attraction
Meet the Matadors -- the super-sized, all-male dance troupe that jiggles and shimmies at Bulls games. Story, LIVE
