The Bulls led 55-47 at the half, keeping pace with Philadelphia offensively, but they were blitzed like Hanie in the second. A 36-14 third quarter for the Sixers took the life out of the United Center, and there was no fourth-quarter magic as they evened the series, which moves to Philadelphia for Game 3 on Friday night.

“The bottom line is the fight,” (Tom) Thibodeau said. “We’ve got to fight.”

Rebounding would help, too.

If (Derrick) Rose limping to half court was the emotional high of the game, the low was looking at Luol Deng as reporters entered the locker room. He sat in his locker, knees wrapped in ice, feet soaking in an ice bath, staring straight ahead. He was the picture of postgame gloom.

“We gotta play better defense,” he said. “Offense is not who we are. We’ve got to take pride in our defense and step it up. We got a lot of different guys who can score, but this is the playoffs. Defensively we’ve got to be better. You’ve got to take the challenge, each individual.”

via Jon Greenberg of ESPN Chicago