CHICAGO (AP) -- His neck bothered him, and a 25-point deficit

didn't ease the pain. But Chris Duhon shrugged it off.

The second-year pro registered the first triple double of his

career, and the Chicago Bulls rallied to a 109-105 overtime victory

over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night in the season-opener

for both teams.

Duhon finished with 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting, 12 assists and

10 rebounds after spending a night in a hospital after being fouled

to the floor in a preseason game at Minnesota last week.

"When I got screened that didn't feel too good," Duhon said.

"But that's something you can play through. When you love this

game, you're always going to have bumps and bruises you need to

play through."

Tyson Chandler scored 11 points, including two shots in overtime

that gave the Bulls a four-point lead, and grabbed 11 rebounds.

Darius Songaila hit a 3-pointer that tied it in the final seconds

of regulation and finished with 11 points.

The Bobcats led by 25 in the third quarter and were ahead 89-68

going into the fourth only to see it disappear.

Duhon hit a 3-pointer from the corner with 34.1 seconds left in

regulation, and Songaila hit one from the top of the key to tie it

at 98 with 5.1 remaining.

Gerald Wallace then inbounded the ball from the sideline to

Raymond Felton, who missed a three from the top of the key as time

expired.

Tied at 102 in overtime, Chandler scored down low to give the

Bulls a two-point lead with 2:12 remaining. He missed the free

throw, but added to the lead just over a minute later, when

Songaila hit him for a dunk.

The Bulls held off the Bobcats from there.

"Tough breaks, they got hot, they made plays," Felton said.

"We didn't really make plays at the end like we should have, but

those are minor mistakes that we could fix."

Wallace tied his career-high with 28 points, hitting 11-of-16

shots, and Emeka Okafor added 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich twisted his left ankle after hitting a

layup with 2:48 left in the third quarter and left the game with

nine points. He'll be re-evaluated on Thursday.

Forwards Tim Thomas and Michael Sweetney -- acquired from New

York for Eddy Curry and Antonio Davis -- had unspectacular debuts

for Chicago. Sweetney had 10 points and four rebounds, while Thomas

had six points and one rebound.

Ben Gordon never found his rhythm. The NBA's sixth man of the

year as a rookie last season, was just 4-of-18 from the field and

finished with 14 points.

Charlotte held an 89-68 lead after three quarters, but Chicago

made a mad dash in the fourth quarter, going on 21-4 run to close

to within 95-89 and outscoring the Bobcats 30-9 in the fourth.

"Well, we took 11 3-point shots in that second half,"

Charlotte coach Bernie Bickerstaff said. "We got totally out of

character in that situation. We had five turnovers in the first

half and we ended up with 18. The 3-point shots that Chicago made

were totally uncontested.

"What happened was that Chicago got Christmas early."

Leading the charge was Eric Piatkowski.

His 3-pointer with 3:24 left pulled the Bulls to within 95-87

and, after a timeout by Charlotte, he made it a six-point game with

a pull-up jumper.

"We needed someone to come in and give us a spark, and tonight

that was Pike," Duhon said.

Wallace hit a three from the corner to make it 98-89 with 2:22

remaining, but the Bulls weren't finished.

The Bulls -- losers of seven of their previous eight home-openers

-- tied a franchise record last season by dropping their first nine

games on their way to a 2-13 start. They turned things around,

finishing with 47 wins and reaching the playoffs for the first time

since 1998.

But they did not look like a playoff team on Wednesday -- until

the fourth.

"If we start games the way we did, it's going to come back and

bite us," Chandler said.Game notes
The Bulls opened their 40th NBA season. ... White Sox

manager Ozzie Guillen received a standing ovation when he presented

a game ball to a fan before tipoff.