Bulls beat Pistons,Gordon in battle of shorthanded teams

John Salmons scored 22 points, Derrick Rose added 19 and the Bulls ended a five-game losing streak by beating the Detroit Pistons 92-85 on Wednesday night. Ben Gordon made his return to the United Center and heard the boos from the crowd. Gordon, who led the Bulls in scoring the previous four seasons before signing a five-year, $55 million contract with Detroit in the offseason, scored 18 points on 6-of-16 shooting and picked up five fouls.The Bulls used an 11-0 third-quarter run to pull out to a comfortable lead and get a victory in their first home game since a 1-5 trip, mostly to the West Coast.Gordon entered the game with 6:24 left in the first quarter to a mixed greeting that was mostly boos. And when he went to the line less than 2 minutes later, the boos grew louder before turning to cheers when he missed the free throw. The boos continued every time he touched the ball during the game.Gordon, who missed the Pistons’ previous two games with a sprained left ankle, finished the half with five points and three fouls.The Pistons clipped a 10-point halftime deficit to three in the third quarter before the Bulls took off. Rose drove through the lane for a hoop, Joakim Noah hit a short jumper, Salmons connected on a 3-pointer before taking a nice pass from Rose for a layup and Brad Miller followed in a shot during the 11-0 run that put the Bulls up 63-49. They led by 17 after three quarters.Detroit scrapped in the final quarter and whittled the lead to five with 16 seconds left on Gordon’s two free throws before Miller hit a pair from the line to ice it.The Bulls jumped out to a 23-6 lead against the cold-shooting Pistons and led 24-10 at the end of the first quarter. Detroit, missing injured stars Richard Hamilton (ankle), Tayshaun Prince (back) and Charlie Villanueva (broken nose), shot 5 of 20 in the opening period.The Bulls led 48-38 at the half behind 13 points from Salmons and 50 percent shooting.
NOTES—Noah had 14 rebounds. … The Pistons have lost eight of nine. …Kirk Hinrich sat out his third straight game with a sprained thumb.