The Chicago Bulls lost to the Denver Nuggets by the slimmest of margins last night, losing 90-89 in heart breaking fashion.

With 0.6 seconds left in the game, and the game tied at 89, Chauncey Billups stepped up to the free throw line. He hit the first free throw to give the Nuggets a one point lead, and purposefully missed the second free throw. Joakim Noah snatched up the rebound and and called a timeout, leaving the Bulls with 0.3 seconds left in the game.

The Bulls inbounded the ball to Brad Miller, who was cutting away from the basket. Miller flicked up a shot, and it was good. The Bulls and the United Center erupted into celebration. As the shot was at the end of regulation, the referees were required to review the play. Upon the review, the referees overturned the call, saying that Miller did not get the shot off on time.

It is hard to get too upset over this, as logically, there is no way that Miller got that shot off in less than 0.3 seconds. However, according to the NBA rules, the Bulls should have won last night’s game, as when the evidence is inconclusive, the ruling on the court is supposed to be upheld. There was no way, at least from the camera angles we saw (which are supposed to be the same one’s that the referees see) that they could conclude whether or not the ball was out of Miller’s hands.

I am issuing a challenge to the NBA. Upload this play to the video rule book, and explain the conclusive piece of evidence in your replays that led to this call being overturned. Also, while you’re at it, upload the video Rajon Rondo’s foul in the playoffs, and explain why that is a hard foul that’s not flagrant.

While the loss was disappointing, there were some positives tonight, in particular, Derrick Rose finally had a good all around game. Rose finished with 22 points on 10-17 shooting and 5 assists. The problem of course is that this is his best game of the season. Many expected him to be putting up these types of performances on a nightly basis, and it just hasn’t happened. Hopefully Rose can use this game as a jumping off point for this season.

Joakim Noah continued his defensive dominance, putting up a 12 point, 21 rebound, and 3 block performance.

Luol Deng played well, finishing with 21 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. In this game, Deng actually scored the ball efficiently. The most impressive part about Deng’s game was the way he played defensively, holding Carmelo Anthony to 20 points, his lowest output of the season, on an inefficient 42.9 TS%.

Taj Gibson was solid, putting up 11 points and grabbing 6 rebounds. He was active on defense, and grabbed 3 steals.

The Bulls backcourt struggles continued, this game being the struggling play of John Salmons and Kirk Hinrich. Salmons finished with 11 points on 3-13 shooting and Hinrich finished with 6 points on 3-10 shooting, 4 assists, and 3 turnovers.

Both Nene Hilario and Kenyon Martin put up double doubles for the Nuggets. Nene had 11 points and 12 rebounds, while Martin finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Chauncey Billups was solid as usual, finishing with 17 points and 6 assists.

Earl Smith struggled for the Nuggets, scoring only 5 points on 1-9 shooting.

George Karl passed up Red Auerbach, to move into 8th place on the all time wins list for coaches, winning his 939th game.

With the loss, the Bulls fall to 4-3.

From Mike McGraw’s article in today’s Daily Herald.

DENVER - According to Nuggets boss George Karl, who coached Vinny Del Negro for two years in Milwaukee, Del Negro is one of the NBA’s all-time greats - at throwing inbounds passes. Who knew?

“He was the best inbounds passer I have ever coached,” Karl said before playing the Bulls on Monday. “He won some game for us in Milwaukee making some great plays from the sideline out of bounds.”

Asked if he thought Del Negro had coaching potential back then, Karl gave an answer typical of those who have known the first-year Bulls coach for some time. Del Negro worked as a broadcaster and scout before taking the Bulls’ job.

“Yeah, I think you could say he was more of a clever guy than an athletic guy,” Karl said. “I was surprised he didn’t go into it right out of playing. But sometimes it takes you time to find your passion.

“What was funny was I talked to Vinny two or three weeks before he got the call (from the Bulls) about being an assistant coach here, because I had two spots open. Vinny was on the list. We were going to meet and talk about it. I think he actually called me knowing the position. Then he got interviewed by Chicago.”