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Boozer's slump doesn't concern Thibs

CHICAGO -- Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said he wasn’t concerned about forward Carlos Boozer's lack of recent offense after another single-digit scoring performance in Saturday’s 87-80 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Boozer was held to two points on 0-of-5 shooting from the field and was 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. The last time he didn’t make a field goal in a game was when he went 0-for-2 against the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 11, 2003. He was last limited to two points in a game March 14, 2012 against the Miami Heat.

Boozer’s scoring numbers have fluctuated this season. He’s been held to less than 10 points three times, including scoring nine points against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday. He’s also had games of 18, 19 and 12 points this season. He’s averaging 10.7 points through six games.

Boozer has also shot just 25-of-64 from the field for a .391 shooting percentage. He’s shot over .500 in nine seasons and has been under .500 in just once before the current season.

“The ball is just not going in for him,” Thibodeau said. “He has experience. It will come around. We just have to be patient. He is rebounding well. When you are not shooting the ball, we expect you to do other things to win. He is running the floor and setting picks for us. He came up with a couple of loose balls at the end of the third quarter that were really big for us.”

Boozer also contributed nine rebounds, four assists and three steals in Saturday’s win.

Thibodeau played Boozer 26:39 on the night and instead turned to backup forward Taj Gibson for the entire fourth quarter. Gibson finished eight points, eight rebounds and two blocks in 23 minutes.