Jason Kidd recently referred to Bulls Coach Scott Skiles, who coached Kidd in Phoenix, as a backstabber.  With the Nets in Chicago to face the Bulls the Chicago media asked Kidd to explain his comment writes Fred Kerber of the New York Post, which Kidd did plus some more.

"He's the reason I'm in New Jersey," said Kidd who noted, "He always wanted to be me. He always thought he was better than me. That's the way it goes."

Asked if he gets up to face Skiles, Kidd said "Why get up? [Life's] too short to get up. He has no impact on how I feel about the Bulls or anything else. It's what he has done behind the scenes. Even ask his team. Ask Eddy Curry and all those guys how they feel about him."

Skiles said he always felt he had a good relationship with Kidd while they were together. Asked why Kidd is bitter toward him, Skiles replied, "We traded him. It's not brain surgery . . . I will suit up and go to battle with Jason Kidd any day of the week."

The anticipated trade between Chicago and Detroit which would have sent point guard Frankie Williams to the Pistons in exchange for Smush Parker, Horace Jenkins and/or a second round draft pick (depending on which article you read) is apparently dead according to Chicago Sun-Times writer John Jackson.

It has been written that Chicago may pull out of the deal and save Williams, who is in the last year of his contract, as a filler in potential bigger trades down the road.  The Bulls' Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler both become restricted free agents this offseason and both have been subject to trade rumors.

On a day when the Pistons learned that Jermaine O'Neal will be suiting against them on Christmas Day in Indiana, they were defeated by the surging Chicago Bulls by a final score of 89-82.

The Bulls had 6 players scoring in double figures.  Ben Gordon was their high-scorer with 19 points.  

The win in Detroit extended their win streak to 5 games.

Behind Eddy Curry?s 18, the Chicago Bulls won their fourth straight game for the first time since 1998, defeating the Portland Trailblazers 92-87 before a crowd of 19,023.  The momentous occasion was witnessed by His Airness, Michael Jordon from his suite.

"This is night and day from even two months ago," Curry said. "We feel like we can compete with anybody if we go out with the right mind-set. We haven't in any way reached our peak."

The good news for the Bulls is that Antonio Davis does not have a broken jaw, however he is questionable for Monday?s game versus Portland.

Mr. Davis suffered a bruised jaw and a concussion in Saturday?s game versus Indiana.

The Bulls are shooting for their first game winning streak since March 20, 1998 and will miss Davis? tough defense, especially versus Portland?s Zach Randolph.

Guard Eddie House signed with the Milwaukee Bucks before Saturday's game against the Philadelphia 76ers.

The former ASU star, in 13 games with the Charlotte Bobcats this season, averaged 11.1 points while shooting 45.2 percent from the field and 41.4 percent from the 3-point line.

Bucks general manager Larry Harris said he was able to sign House after the NBA granted the team an exemption to have a fourth player on the injured list.

"Eddie was having a career year with Charlotte before being waived," Harris said. "We think he'll be a productive addition to our backcourt."

The proposed trade that was reported earlier this week, which would send Smush Parker and a future second-round draft pick to the Bulls for guard Frank Williams is on hold until at least Dec. 30 according to The Detroit News, but RealGM notes that since Parker was signed on October 1 he cannot be traded until January 1 at the earliest.

According to the NBA collective bargaining agreement, teams cannot trade a new contract for three months or until Dec. 15, whichever is later.

For a list when players become available, check out RealGM's Transaction Restrictions page.

According to Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press Pistons GM Joe Dumars is hopeful of acquiring unused point guard Frank Williams from the Chicago Bulls to be the third point guard behind Chauncey Billups and Lindsey Hunter.

Dumars said Monday evening that the trade wasn't done yet, and it is possible the Bulls will pull out. If they trade Williams, their backups at point guard behind starter Kirk Hinrich would come down to rookies Chris Duhon and Ben Gordon, and Gordon is more of a shooting guard.

To land Williams the Pistons would send guards Smush Parker and Horace Jenkins to the Bulls.  The Bulls would be able to waive Parker because his contract is not guaranteed. Jenkins' contract is guaranteed. Nothing can be done before Wednesday because free-agent signees can't be traded until Dec. 15.

Williams, a pass-first point guard whose style is believed to fit with coach Larry Brown, has played in just five games for Chicago this season, averaging 1.2 points and 1.6 assists . If he adapts to Detroit's system, he might become a first-option guard off the bench, leaving Brown free to keep Hunter rested for the playoffs.

It is an unwritten rule in the NBA that if the game is out of reach you dribble out the clock.  Someone forgot to tell Bulls rookie Ben Gordon, who shot and made a basket with 1.6 seconds remaining in a nine point game, to the anger of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

"I didn't even know how many (points) I had at the time," Gordon said. "My initial intention was to just dribble it out. But I saw the basket and my eyes lit up.

"The older guys and a couple of the assistant coaches told me in a game like that, you just dribble it out. I was just out there playing to the end, I guess."

The Timberwolves took note of Gordon's late basket and may file it away until the teams play at Minnesota on Feb. 13.

"That was b.s.," Minnesota star Kevin Garnett said. "If he was going to the basket, it would have been different. That was b.s. They seemed to be excited because they won the game, but that was still b.s. That's OK, we'll play them again."

According to Daily Herald writer Mike McGraw Golden State Warriors special assistant Mitch Richmond was once again on hand to scout the Bulls from courtside last night as the Bulls beat the Cavaliers. It is presumed he was there to again see Bulls center Eddy Curry, whose name continues to appear in rumors with the Warriors one of the names constantly mentioned.

McGraw writes that the Bulls could clear significant salary-cap room next summer by swapping Curry and Antonio Davis for the expiring contracts of Dale Davis and Clifford Robinson, plus someone like swingman Mickael Pietrus.