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Bulls start to stir after long slumber

Jerome Williams, right, of the Chicago Bulls defends Desmond Mason of the Milwaukee Bucks in NBA action at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, Monday. PHOTO: AFP

The revamped Chicago Bulls gave their new coach a win in his debut.

Meanwhile, Antonio McDyess was not much of a factor in his long-awaited first game with the New York Knicks.

Taking the court just a few hours after the trade that brought them from Toronto was finalized, Jerome Williams and Antonio Davis gave the Bulls a spark and gave Scott Skiles a 97-87 win over the visiting Milwaukee Bucks in his Chicago coaching debut.

Skiles has Chicago running a new up-tempo offense and the Bulls seemed to take to it Monday night. Jamal Crawford had a season-high 30 points and added eight assists while Eddy Curry had 22 points as Chicago snapped a seven-game losing streak.

Curry's biggest play was a dunk that stopped a 12-0 Milwaukee run that had pulled the Bucks within 91-87 late in the fourth quarter.

Michael Redd led Milwaukee with 26 points.

"With coach Skiles' system and the new guys, it just fits our team a whole lot better," said Crawford, who hugged Skiles after the buzzer sounded. "That's the most comfortable I've been in four years. Honestly."

Williams finished with 13 points, a team-high 10 rebounds and four steals. Davis had 11 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots.

"It's a big thrill for me to get the first win," said Skiles, who had been out of coaching since leaving Phoenix in February 2002 before he replaced the fired Bill Cartwright on Friday.

McDyess and the Knicks weren't so lucky.

McDyess finally took the court for New York nearly 14 months after fracturing his kneecap but was only able to muster two points in the Knicks' 79-78 overtime loss to Detroit.

"Playing, scoring, rebounding -- that was bad," McDyess said after finishing 0-for-5 with two turnovers, scoring both of his points from the foul line. "But physically, I give myself an `A.'"

McDyess, who was so overcome with emotion before the game that he had to retreat to the locker room during the national anthem, was greeted warmly by the crowd at Madison Square Garden. The fans are eager to start seeing results from the blockbuster draft night deal of two summers ago that cost the Knicks two starters and a lottery pick and brought the former All-Star and Olympian to New York.

"I put a lot of pressure on myself to get a bucket, make a shot," McDyess said. "The crowd got me into it, every time I touched the ball I could hear them roar. I kind of got caught up in that."

Chauncey Billups scored seven of his 24 points in overtime for the Pistons, who walked off with the win after Mehmet Okur blocked Michael Doleac's jumper just before the final buzzer.

McDyess sat out the final 9:13 of regulation and all of overtime as Don Chaney stuck with his plan of bringing him back slowly.
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