Cedric Benson’s season is over.

The Chicago Bears‘ running back needs surgery after injuring his left ankle Sunday — another setback for the team’s first-round draft choice in 2005.

Benson, who took over this season as the Bears’ starter after the trade of Thomas Jones to the Jets, broke free for a 21-yard run in Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos.

But he was hurt as he landed while being tackled by Denver safety Hamza Abdullah and later had to be carted off the field following the second-quarter play.

“It’s tough when you lose your starting tailback. Cedric went down with a season-ending injury, which is a tough break,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said Monday, the day after the Bears beat the Broncos 37-34 in overtime.

“He went out on a good run. He had put together two good weeks. … We’ll miss him.”

Veteran Adrian Peterson will now move up to the starter’s role with rookie Garrett Wolfe the backup. Peterson had 45 yards on 17 carries Sunday, including a 4-yard TD run during the Bears’ fourth-quarter comeback from a two-touchdown deficit. He also caught five passes.

“You could say he’s a guy who deserves the opportunity to get more playing time,” Smith said of Peterson. “He’s done everything we’ve always asked him to do.”

Benson gained 47 yards on eight carries before he was hurt Sunday. He’d rushed for 674 yards this season on 196 carries, an average of 3.4 yards per carry and had four touchdowns.

Benson had taken his share of criticism for the lackluster performance of Chicago’s running game, one that is averaging only 3.3 per carry. But a week earlier against Seattle, he showed the form that made him a star at Texas when he broke off a 43-yard TD run. It was the longest run in a career that has been slowed by injuries.

“He had a good game against Seattle last week and the run he went out with was a good run,” Smith said. “We rushed over 100 yards yesterday and with him you never know what we would have been able to do.

“If you look at his play there was definitely improvement that he’s made so that’s the light coming on, I guess you would say that. I just know that he had made improvement and he was feeling more comfortable in his role by the production he was having.”

Asked if the Bears regretted trading Jones — who had more than 1,000 yards in each of the previous two seasons in Chicago — Smith said: “We don’t have Thomas Jones here. This is the group we have and we feel comfortable with it.”

A lengthy contract negotiation caused Benson to miss his first training camp two years ago, and a knee injury knocked him out of six games that season.

In 2006, Benson sprained his shoulder during training camp. He went on to become a strong backup to Jones, gaining 647 yards and averaging 4.1 yards per carry. In the Super Bowl, however, he was knocked out of the game in the first quarter after hurting his knee.

Now the Bears will turn to Peterson, who has 189 yards on 52 carries. He also had 33 receptions, tied for second most on the team.

The Bears’ victory Sunday kept their slim wild card chances alive in the wide open NFC, even at 5-6. They face the Giants this week at Soldier Field, looking for their first two-game winning streak.

Devin Hester had a 75-yard punt return and an 88-yard kickoff return, both in the third quarter against the Broncos.

“Seems like every time we need a boost, he’s the guy that steps up to the plate,” Smith said.

In just his second NFL season, Hester broke a club record he shared with Gale Sayers for kick return touchdowns (eight) with his ninth and 10th (six on punts, four on kickoffs). Those numbers don’t include a missed field goal he returned 108 yards last season against the Giants or his return of the Super Bowl’s opening kickoff for a TD against the Colts.

Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor died early Tuesday, a day after the Pro Bowl player was shot at home by what police say was an intruder. He was 24.

Family friend Richard Sharpstein said Taylor’s father told him the news around 5:30 a.m.

“His father called and said he was with Christ and he cried and thanked me,” said Sharpstein, Taylor’s former lawyer. “It’s a tremendously sad and unnecessary event. He was a wonderful, humble, talented young man, and had a huge life in front of him. Obviously God had other plans.”

Taylor died at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he had been airlifted after the shooting early Monday, Sharpstein said.

Two carloads of mourners, including Taylor’s father, arrived at the house Tuesday morning. They remained inside and did not speak to reporters. A single bouquet of flowers was left by a palm tree just outside a front gate. Beside the mailbox, an untouched newspaper lay with news of Taylor’s shooting.

Doctors had been encouraged late Monday when Taylor squeezed a nurse’s hand, according to Vinny Cerrato, the Redskins’ vice president of football operations. But Sharpstein said he was told Taylor never regained consciousness after being transported to the hospital and that he wasn’t sure how he had squeezed the nurse’s hand.

“Maybe he was trying to say goodbye or something,” Sharpstein said.

Taylor, the fifth overall pick in the 2004 NFL draft following an All-American season at the University of Miami, was shot early Monday in the upper leg, damaging an artery and causing significant blood loss.

“According to a preliminary investigation, it appears that the victim was shot inside the home by an intruder,” Miami-Dade County police said in a statement.

But police were still investigating the attack, which came just eight days after an intruder was reported at Taylor’s home. Officers were sent to the home about 1:45 a.m. Monday after Taylor’s girlfriend called 911.

Sharpstein said Taylor’s girlfriend told him the couple was awakened by loud noises, and Taylor grabbed a machete he keeps in the bedroom for protection. Someone then broke through the bedroom door and fired two shots, one missing and one hitting Taylor, Sharpstein said. Taylor’s 1-year-old daughter, Jackie, was also in the house, but neither she nor Taylor’s girlfriend were injured.

Police found signs of forced entry, but have not determined if they were caused Monday, or the previous burglary.

The shooting happened in the pale yellow house he bought two years ago. Eight days before the attack someone pried open a front window, rifled through drawers and left a kitchen knife on a bed at Taylor’s home, according to police.

“They’re really sifting through that incident and today’s incident,” Miami-Dade Detective Mario Rachid said, “to see if there’s any correlation.”

Born April 1, 1983, Taylor starred as a running back and defensive back at Gulliver Prep in Miami. His father, Pedro Taylor, is police chief of Florida City.

A private man with a small inner circle, Taylor rarely granted interviews. But, behind the scenes, Taylor was described as personable and smart — an emerging locker room leader.

“From the first day I met him, from then to now, it’s just like night and day,” Redskins receiver James Thrash said Monday. “He’s really got his head on his shoulders and has been doing really well as far as just being a man. It’s been awesome to see that growth.”

After Taylor was drafted, problems soon began. Taylor fired his agent, then skipped part of the NFL’s mandatory rookie symposium, drawing a $25,000 fine. Driving home late from a party during the season, he was pulled over and charged with drunken driving. The case was dismissed in court, but by then it had become a months-long distraction for the Redskins.

Taylor also was fined at least seven times for late hits, uniform violations and other infractions over his first three seasons, including a $17,000 penalty for spitting in the face of Tampa Bay running back Michael Pittman during a 2006 playoff game.

Meanwhile, Taylor endured a yearlong legal battle after he was accused in 2005 of brandishing a gun at a man during a fight over allegedly stolen all-terrain vehicles near Taylor’s home. He eventually pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors and was sentenced to 18 months’ probation.

Taylor said the end of the assault case was like “a gray cloud” being lifted. It was also around the time that his daughter was born, and teammates noticed a change.

“It’s hard to expect a man to grow up overnight,” said teammate and close friend Clinton Portis, who played with Taylor at Miami. “But ever since he had his child, it was like a new Sean, and everybody around here knew it. He was always smiling, always happy, always talking about his child.”

On the field, Taylor’s play was often erratic. Assistant coach Gregg Williams frequently called Taylor the best athlete he’d ever coached, but nearly every big play was mitigated by a blown assignment. Taylor led the NFL in missed tackles in 2006 yet made the Pro Bowl because of his reputation as one of the hardest hitters in the league.

This year, however, Taylor was allowed to play a true free safety position, using his speed and power to chase down passes and crush would-be receivers. His five interceptions tie for the league lead in the NFC, even though he missed the last two games because of a sprained knee.

“I just take this job very seriously,” Taylor said in a rare group interview during training camp. “It’s almost like, you play a kid’s game for a king’s ransom. And if you don’t take it serious enough, eventually one day you’re going to say, ‘Oh, I could have done this, I could have done that.’

“So I just say, ‘I’m healthy right now, I’m going into my fourth year, and why not do the best that I can?’ And that’s whatever it is, whether it’s eating right or training myself right, whether it’s studying harder, whatever I can do to better myself.”

His hard work was well-noted.

“He loved football. He felt like that’s what he was made to do,” Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said. “And I think what I’ve noticed over the last year and a half … is he matured. I think his baby had a huge impact on him. There was a real growing up in his life.”

The Chicago Bears desperately needed a spark, and it figured that Devin Hester would be the one to deliver.

Sure, Robbie Gould kicked a 39-yard field goal in overtime and the defending NFC champions gave their flickering playoff hopes a boost with a 37-34 victory over the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

True, Bernard Berrian made a spectacular touchdown catch at the end of regulation. But Hester’s two touchdown returns in the second half woke up a team that seemed to be asleep on the field.

That’s why Denver’s Dre Bly said, “I feel like we single-handedly got beat by one guy.”

Of course, there was more to it than Hester.

After scoring two touchdowns in the final 5:17 of regulation, the Bears (5-6) won the coin toss to start overtime. They drove from their 24 to the Denver 18, where Rex Grossman took a knee. Gould then came in and delivered the game-winner, 3:41 into OT, bringing a dramatic game to a finish.

Denver (5-6) was up 34-20 early in the fourth quarter after an acrobatic 14-yard touchdown catch by Tony Scheffler, but the Bears weren’t finished.

Charles Tillman blocked a punt and Brandon McGowan recovered, giving Chicago the ball on the Broncos’ 18. That led to a 4-yard touchdown run by Adrian Peterson, who was pushed in by his teammates in a scrum.

More drama followed.

With their playoff hopes perhaps hanging by a thread, the Bears tied it with 28 seconds left in regulation on a 3-yard catch by Bernard Berrian that figures to show up on highlight reels. Berrian spun away from Champ Bailey and lunged to catch the pass from Grossman on the right side of the end zone, his right foot dragging as his left knee hit the ground in bounds. The play was reviewed and the call on the field upheld.

The TD capped a 65-yard drive that Denver’s Dre Bly kept alive with an illegal contact on fourth down at the Chicago 36. Grossman connected with Rashied Davis and Muhsin Muhammad for 21 and 13-yard completions that helped set up the touchdown.

“Studying film, we knew he would kind of bite on the initial move, the first move and going back to the corner of the end zone I just think where he was at the way he bit, Rex couldn’t really get it over his shoulder,” Berrian said. “And I think he would have made a play on it. So Rex threw a back shoulder ball and just allowed me to make a play on it.”

The Bears managed to stay in the game despite inopportune penalties, a few breakdowns on defense and the loss of another key player to an injury — Cedric Benson.

They can thank Hester they were still in it. He returned five punts for 81 yards and five kickoffs for 151.

“I take it personal when a team says they are going to kick it to us,” he said. “They feel like they are kicking it to us because they feel we’re not good. We’re trying to make it to the playoffs. This is one step to get us in the hunt.”

And Hester’s feet led them in the right direction.

After fielding a punt at the 25 early in the third quarter and his team down 13-6, Hester turned up the left side, and leapfrogged two defenders on his way to the end zone. It was the ninth time the second-year pro took a kick all the way, breaking Gale Sayers’ club record, and his sixth career punt return for a TD.

Still, he wasn’t finished.

Cecil Sapp had just scored on a 5-yard run to give the Broncos a 20-13 lead with 2:38 left in the third when Hester struck again.

This time, he did it on the kickoff.

Hester burst through the middle and ran it back 88 yards, sidestepping a lunging kicker Todd Sauerbrun. It was the fourth time he returned a kickoff for a touchdown in his career.

Denver had a quick answer on that one.

Jay Cutler immediately connected with Brandon Marshall, who beat Ricky Manning for a 68-yard touchdown that put the Broncos ahead 27-20 with 2:11 left in the quarter.

“Devin did an awesome job,” Sauerbrun said. “He won the game for the Bears. The Bears can thank him. It was our fault we let him loose.”

Cutler followed a solid performance in Monday’s 14-point win over Tennessee with another good outing. He completed 17 of 31 passes for 302 yards. He had two touchdowns and one interception.

Scheffler caught five of those passes for 82 yards, and Andre Hall had a decent game filling in for injured running backs Travis Henry and Selvin Young. He carried 26 times for 98 yards and scored a touchdown.

It was not a good day for Benson (eight attempts, 47 yards), who left on a cart after injuring his left ankle at the end of a 21-yard run early in the second.

Grossman was a bit shaky, too, in his second start since returning to the lineup.

He was 17-of-33 with 193 yards thanks to several dropped passes. He had a touchdown and an interception in his first appearance at Soldier Field since a meltdown against Dallas in the third game that led to his benching.

Whether it’s getting blown out early or faltering in the fourth quarter, the Chicago Bulls keep finding ways to lose.

Chris Bosh had 16 points and 13 rebounds, rookie Jamario Moon matched his career-high with 15 points and the Toronto Raptors pulled away in the fourth to beat Chicago 93-78 Sunday, handing the Bulls their fourth straight loss.

“There’s no fun in moral victories,” said a downcast Kirk Hinrich. “I feel like we played better but we lost the game and we struggled down the stretch again.”

The energetic Moon added nine rebounds, six blocks and three steals.

“He gave us a lot of problems,” Bulls coach Scott Skiles said.

Starting in place of the injured T.J. Ford (sore left arm), point guard Jose Calderon had 19 points and 14 assists for Toronto.

“Jose is playing fantastic right now,” Bosh said. “He’s moving the ball where he’s supposed to and taking good shots. He’s just poised and controlled. We need that right now, especially with T.J. being out.”

Luol Deng had 21 points and nine rebounds in his return to Chicago’s starting lineup after missing the previous three games with a sore lower back.

Ben Gordon added 17 and Hinrich had 15 for Chicago.

Carlos Delfino had 13 points and eight rebounds for Toronto.

The victory was the 114th for Sam Mitchell as Raptors coach, moving him past Lenny Wilkens for the most wins in team history.

The Raptors led 70-64 after three quarters, but missed their first six shot attempts in the fourth. A pair of jumpers by Chicago’s Joe Smith cut the gap to two before a Jason Kapono 3-pointer with 8:06 to go ended Toronto’s slump.

Kapono’s basket seemed to deflate the Bulls, who didn’t make another shot until Deng’s 3-pointer with 2:36 to play and the game already out of reach.

“In critical moments, we’re a little flat-footed out there,” Skiles said. “Right now at least, we don’t have the thrust of energy that we need at that moment.”

Hinrich said defensive lapses have hurt the Bulls in late-game situations.

“In the past, when we got down to those points in the game we were getting stops,” Hinrich said. “It’s something we haven’t been able to do this year, which puts that much more pressure on us to execute at the other end.”

No Chicago player was able to defend Moon, who brought the crowd to its feet by blowing past Ben Wallace for a layup with 5:32 to play, giving Toronto a 75-68 edge.

“Coach had already pointed out to me that when I get the ball on the wing, no one is in front of me,” Moon said. “He told me the next time I get it he wanted me to take it to the basket strong. When I turned, no one was in front of me so I just went.”

Moon, who said he routinely downs a pair of energy drinks before games, has brought a welcome boost to the Raptors.

“He’s done a great job,” Bosh said. “Every team in the NBA needs somebody like that because sometimes you’re flat. When you have a guy who’s going to come out and run the floor like that and make some big-time blocked shots, it’s going to help us out. That kind of wakes everybody up.”

The Bulls entered play Sunday shooting an NBA-worst 38.6 percent from the field. They were no better against Toronto, finishing the game 30-for-79 (38 percent).

“We’ve got to execute better and right now we’re not doing that,” Deng said.

Chicago trailed 19-12 midway through the first but erased the deficit with an 11-0 run and outscored Toronto 21-6 over the final 5:10 to go up 33-26 after 12 minutes.

Poor shooting by the Bulls let Toronto back into the game in the second, when Chicago made just three of 19 field goal attempts. An acrobatic put-back by Moon in the last seconds of the half gave the Raptors a 50-44 lead at the break.

Rodney Alexander scored 12 of his 17 points in Illinois’ game-opening 20-0 run and the Fightini Illini went on to a 77-54 victory over Arizona State on Monday night in the opening round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.

Alexander had two 3-pointers and two three-point plays in the early burst.

Illinois (3-0) will play No. 13 Duke, which beat Princeton 83-61, in the semifinals on Tuesday.

Brian Randle had 17 points for Illinois, which shot 57.4 percent for the game (27-for-47), including 10-for-17 from 3-point range.

Christian Polk had 13 points for Arizona State (0-1), which started three freshmen in a season opener for the first time in school history.

The game-opening run was easily explained by shooting: the Illini made theirs and the Sun Devils didn’t.

Illinois started the game making seven of its first eight shots including three 3-pointers in four attempts. The miss was the first shot of the game by Chester Frazier.

Arizona State, meanwhile, missed its first nine shots and the first field goal came on an offensive rebound. Antwi Atuahene put back a missed 3-point attempt by James Harden to make it 20-2 with 14:08 left in the first half.

The biggest lead of the half was 29-7 on a tip-in by Randle with 9:57 left. Arizona State got as close as 12 points in the half — 36-24 on a 3 by Jerren Shipp with 1:34 left — and the Sun Devils trailed 38-24 at halftime.

Illinois’ biggest lead was 76-50 on a 3-pointer by Demetri McCamey with 2:42 to play.

The three freshmen struggled for the Sun Devils, combining to go 4-for-19 from the field. Ty Abbott led the trio with nine points, while James Harden had six and Jamelle McMillan finished with two.

The person who drew the most attention in the Lahaina Civic Center during the game was NBA great Michael Jordan who was there to watch his son play for Illinois. Jeff Jordan, a freshman guard, had one point and an assist in 11 minutes.

This is Illinois’ third appearance in the tournament. The Fighting Illini finished third in 1987 and second in 2000.

The Lakers might not be among the NBA’s elite teams, but they’re making a case for having one of the league’s strongest benches.

Kobe Bryant scored 10 of his 18 points in the third quarter, five Los Angeles reserves finished in double figures, and the Lakers beat the Chicago Bulls 106-78 on Sunday night for their third straight victory.

The Los Angeles substitutes outscored their Chicago counterparts 73-31, and the Lakers outrebounded the Bulls 51-38.

The last time the Lakers had five reserves score in double figures was on March 9, 1985, and no Los Angeles team had come up with as many as 73 points off the bench since April 24, 1988 when the substitutes scored 84.

“If they keep doing what they did today on a consistent basis, I’m going to jump off the ledge and say yeah,” starting forward Lamar Odom replied when asked if the Lakers’ bench was the best in the league.

“Our guys are really jelling,” Bryant said. “It’s great for us because it’s a long season. I think they have great chemistry, and they’ve worked really hard, as we all do.”

Los Angeles blew the game open by scoring 18 straight points to finish the third quarter and start the fourth for an 81-60 lead with 9:45 remaining. All 18 points were scored by reserves.

The Bulls weren’t closer than 15 points after that, and suffered their most lopsided loss ever to the Lakers. The previous record margin was 27 points in 1968.

Andrew Bynum had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers; Jordan Farmar added 14 points and a career-high eight assists; Chris Mihm and Vladimir Radmanovic scored 11 points each and Luke Walton added 10.

“Our bench is all into playing together,” said Walton, a starter last season. “We have a lot of fun playing together. When you do that, you have success. You get into that groove playing with those guys. We’re getting more of an identity, and we’re having fun doing it.”

The Lakers trailed at halftime 46-45 before outscoring the Bulls 61-32 in the final 24 minutes.

“It seems like we ran out of gas,” Chicago’s Ben Gordon said.

The Bulls were playing for the second straight night at Staples Center, having beaten the Clippers 92-73 for their first road victory of the season.

“The first half was really a difficult half for us,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “I was surprised the crowd was still there that second half.”

Gordon scored 20 points and Andres Nocioni had 14 points and six rebounds for the Bulls, off to a disappointing 2-7 start after they were picked as one of the Eastern Conference’s best teams during the preseason.

“We’re just inconsistent, myself included,” said Chicago’s Kirk Hinrich, who shot 3-of-11 and scored eight points. “Everybody just needs to do their job, and hopefully we’ll find our way out of this thing.”

Both teams played without a starting forward. Luol Deng, the Bulls’ second-leading scorer, sat out because of lower back pain. Ronny Turiaf missed his second game for the Lakers due to a sprained left ankle.

The Lakers lost starting center Kwame Brown early in the game as well. Brown left in the first quarter with what the team called moderate sprains of the left knee and ankle. X-rays were negative.

“It’s going to be 24-to-48 hours before we really know what’s going to happen,” Jackson said. “I haven’t seen it on tape. I know it wasn’t a pretty sight.”

Brown was injured when Bulls center Ben Wallace fell into him. Bryant charged into Wallace while driving toward the basket and passing underneath to Brown, who went down in a heap clutching his left leg after the contact, which came as he was going up for a shot.

“He’ll be fine. Kwame’s a beast,” Bryant said with a smile.

The game was the first between the teams since early-season trade talks involving Bryant, who has asked to be dealt and apparently would welcome a move to Chicago.

“It was talked about incessantly for about two or three weeks,” Bulls coach Scott Skiles said. “We even talked about it as a team. We haven’t talked about it for several days now, but it’s over. It’s just dead. Dead story.”

Bryant, who scored eight points in the first half, had nine during a 15-2 spurt to start the third quarter, giving the Lakers a 60-48 lead and putting them ahead to stay. The Bulls drew within three points before Los Angeles went on its game-clinching run.

With each completion, Matt Hasselbeck winced.He needed electrical stimulation on his strained side muscle while he was on the bench, “some things to make it feel better” at halftime and “a lot of sympathy tonight when I get home,” Hasselbeck said.

And, to think, this was a great day for the Seahawks’ quarterback.

Hasselbeck continued perhaps the best season of his career with 30 completions for 337 yards and two touchdowns, and Seattle took advantage of Chicago quarterback Rex Grossman’s late fumble to hold on for a 30-23 victory against the Bears on Sunday.

Hasselbeck thrived again using a wide-open shotgun offense that coach Mike Holmgren always resisted but has now embraced because of a stalled running game. He threw 44 times, tied his season high in completions and had his third 300-yard passing day of the season — his most in three years — as Seattle (6-4) maintained its one-game lead over Arizona in the NFC West.

“It’s so much easier. At times you feel like it’s cheating,” Hasselbeck said of the shotgun, which is more a pistol because he lines up just a few yards behind center. “When they blitz, just catch and throw.

“It’s nice. It’s really nice.”

Hasselbeck’s best throw was also his most improvisational one. On third-and-goal at the 4 early in the third quarter, he ran toward the line to avoid defensive end Alex Brown and suddenly flipped a low pass that Nate Burleson caught inside the goal line, the receiver’s legs split and his right knee on the ground. That put Seattle ahead 24-17 and left Brown punching the turf in frustration.

Hasselbeck set up that score by converting a fourth-and-inches with a 20-yard bootleg pass to Marcus Pollard. And he began Seattle’s 14-point answer of a 10-0 deficit in the first quarter with a 19-yard touchdown pass to D.J. Hackett.

Hackett set career highs with nine receptions for 136 yards.

For 3 1/2 quarters, Grossman was efficient in his return as the Bears’ starting quarterback after watching Brian Griese run the offense for six games. Grossman was 24-for-37 for 266 yards — his most since he threw for 282 last January in a win against Seattle in the NFC divisional playoffs.

But after not turning the ball over all day, Grossman made the mistake that Bears (4-6) followers seem to expect from him, with 5:43 left.

After throws of 22 yards to Muhsin Muhammad and 23 yards to Bernard Berrian — a terrific, one-handed catch — got the ball into Seattle territory with Chicago down 27-20, Grossman could not find an open receiver. He took off running. Patrick Kerney caught him from behind and ripped the ball from his right hand. Darryl Tapp recovered the fumble at the Seattle 47.

The Seahawks turned that into Josh Brown’s clinching field goal from 46 yards with 3:36 remaining.

“I was in range for the sack. I figured I might as well wait. I was just waiting for him to show the ball,” said Kerney, who got three of the Seahawks’ five sacks — all in the second half.

Seattle has 28 sacks in its six wins. It has three sacks in its four losses.

Grossman, who has lost three of his four starts this season, wasn’t eager to rate his return performance.

“At this point I have too many things running through my head to pinpoint anything,” he said, angrily. “The biggest frustration about this game is that we had our chances to win it against a pretty good team in a hostile environment.

“That’s all. That’s all I’ve got to say.”

When asked if Grossman will start again at home against Denver next weekend, coach Lovie Smith said: “We handle it week to week and I won’t make any statements about that right now.

“But I was definitely pleased with how Rex played at the quarterback position. I thought it gave us a chance to win.”

Chicago has more problems than Grossman. The defense, often dominant in the Bears’ run to the Super Bowl last season, allowed 425 yards — including 87 on 18 carries by Maurice Morris. Morris scored a touchdown while starting for the second consecutive game for the injured Shaun Alexander.

The Bears allowed 30 points for the fourth time in 10 games. Chicago allowed 30 points in just three games over the previous two seasons.

“Got to play better. Too many yards,” is all linebacker Brian Urlacher spat out.

Chicago was poised to retie the game midway through the third quarter when Berrian caught a pass from Grossman and reached for what was initially ruled a first down. Seattle challenged the spot, and a replay review reversed the ruling, leaving the Bears with a fourth-and-1. Cedric Benson ran up the middle behind fullback Jason McKie, but Lofa Tatupu leaped over a blocker and stuffed Benson for no gain.

The 3-pointers are falling for Leandro Barbosa, and his new teammate Grant Hill looks ever-so-comfortable playing the Suns’ style.

Barbosa scored 25 points, including 5-of-7 on 3s, Hill added 24 points and Phoenix pulled away to win its fourth in a row, 112-102 over the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night.

Hill’s performance came on the heels of his 21-point effort against New York two nights earlier.

In between, he flew with his wife Tamia by charter flight to Chicago for an appearance on Oprah.

“I’m starting to get my legs, starting to turn the corner there, and just find a rhythm,” he said. “It’s a process, but I feel good now and just want to keep looking to get better.”

Marion, who scored 11 of his 21 points in the final 6 1/2 minutes, admitted his nerves were shook up a bit after being involved in a car accident on his way to the arena.

“I almost sat out the second half because I wasn’t feeling right at all,” Marion said. “It didn’t hit me until afterward that I was in a wreck before the game. My team helped me, coach and everybody kept telling me to just take deep breaths and go out there and get it done.”

Boris Diaw had seven of his 10 down the stretch in relief of Amare Stoudemire, who drew four fouls in a 3:18 minute span of the fourth quarter.

Steve Nash had 10 points and 15 assists for the Suns, and Stoudemire added 14 points.

“We had our ups and downs a little bit,” coach Mike D’Antoni said. “Boris had a start that was bad, but he came on and his fourth quarter was great. That’s what we have to have.”

Nash had seven assists in the fourth quarter.

“Steve came in and kind of regained control of the game for them,” Chicago coach Scott Skiles said, “and we didn’t have much of an answer for it.”

Ben Gordon, scored 24 and Luol Deng had 23 for the Bulls, who rallied from 14 down in the third quarter to take the lead in the fourth. Chicago fell to 1-6 to start the season.

“I thought we played hard, but toward the end of the game and throughout the game we made some bad decisions,” Gordon said. “We’ve just got to shore some things up.”

At least this game was an improvement, said Skiles, whose team was blown out at home by 30 points against Toronto in their last game, at home on Saturday.

“There were stretches for longer time periods where we played a little bit higher-quality basketball, that’s for sure,” Skiles said, “but we’re not in this to do that. We’re in this to try to win the game.”

Diaw’s three-point play with 7:28 to go put Phoenix ahead for good, 88-85. The Bulls scored to get within one, then Marion’s inside basket on a pass from Hill triggered a 9-0 run that put Phoenix in control for good.

The decisive spurt featured Barbosa’s final 3-pointer, on a kickout pass from Nash on a fastbreak, to give the Suns a 93-87 lead with 6 minutes to play.

The Suns shot out to a 15-6 lead and were up by 15 in the second quarter.

But the Bulls finished the third with an 11-1 run to tie it at 75 on Kirk Hinrich’s 16-footer with 21 seconds to go in the period. Chicago took a 76-75 lead when Tyrus Thomas made one of two free throws to start the fourth.

There were four lead changes and five ties before Diaw’s three-point play.

Barbosa, who scored 16 in the second quarter, hit three straight 3s in an 11-3 spurt that put the Suns ahead 56-41 with 1:09 left. But Gordon sank a 3-pointer and Deng added a layup to cut it to 56-46 at halftime.

Hill, who shot 7-for-8 in Phoenix’s victory over New York on Tuesday, had 17 in the first half against Chicago, 11 in the second quarter.

Five consecutive points by Marion, on a 3-pointer and a driving runner, gave Phoenix a 62-48 lead before the Bulls launched their rally.

Signed as a free agent in the offseason, Hill has quickly acclimated to the Suns’ ultra-uptempo style. He had a fastbreak layup on a half-court lob pass from Barbosa, the last of his six straight points that put Phoenix ahead 36-32.

Criticized, booed and then benched, Rex Grossman went from Super Bowl starter to backup. Then came another chance to play again.

Subbing for the injured Brian Griese, Grossman delivered for the Chicago Bears. His well-thrown 59-yard pass to Bernard Berrian with just 3:11 left Sunday gave the Bears the lead and a huge lift in a 17-6 comeback win over the Oakland Raiders.

So after Rex came to the rescue is he back as a starter?

Coach Lovie Smith wasn’t saying Monday, revealing that Griese has a sprained left shoulder and has not been medically cleared to play — a factor that could give Grossman his first start since the third game of the season

“Well, first he needs to be cleared medically, and from there, if he’s cleared medically, he should be ready to go,” Smith said.

The Bears are 4-5 headed into Sunday’s game at Seattle, a team they beat in the regular season and the playoffs last season en route to the Super Bowl. In the 27-24 overtime win against the Seahawks in the playoffs last January, Grossman completed a 30-yard pass to Rashied Davis to set up Robbie Gould’s winning field goal.

“Yes, it’s unclear who’s going to start Sunday. Once you get healthy guys, then you start … right now we finished with two guys that could play, Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton, so that’s really what we’re dealing with right now,” Smith said.

And he added that he doesn’t have to make a decision on a starter until Sunday. But it could be obvious by Wednesday’s practice, if Griese is ready or if Grossman is running the offense. The latter is more probable.

“Someone will be lining up out there Wednesday, someone who’s healthy and ready to go,” Smith said.

Grossman fumbled his very first snap Sunday and completed 7 of 14 passes for 142 yards Sunday, decent numbers for someone who’d been sitting for seven weeks.

“It took me a while to get into the flow and the rhythm of the game, but that was indescribable,” Grossman said Sunday

Grossman, whose contract expires after the season, had just one TD pass and six interceptions in the first three games before he was replaced.

“I hope people appreciate that Rex hasn’t shut it down,” center Olin Kreutz said after Sunday’s game.

“He hasn’t moped around our building. He’s kept himself prepared and ready to play. I hope it shows a lot of people what everybody on this team already knew about Rex. He’s still a professional, and he’s still going to be ready to win.”

Smith said he took notice of how well Grossman played in what he called a hostile environment. He said it’s what he expects of anyone who is second string.

“It showed that Rex has been paying attention,” Smith said.

“The next play they could be called upon and that’s how it was with Rex. But Rex has prepared that way. You’re disappointed when you’re not the starter, but you have to prepare like you could end up coming in and playing, and that’s what he’s done and I think that’s what we saw from the way he played.”

The Bears’ defense got three sacks from Adewale Ogunleye on Sunday, but their running game was stuck as usual, making it tougher on whomever the quarterback might be.

Cedric Benson carried 29 times but managed just 76 yards.

“We’re not pleased with our running game,” Smith said.

Indiana fans welcomed Eric Gordon by chanting his name Monday night. The highly touted freshman responded with an opening act that lived up to the billing.

Gordon finished with 33 points, the most ever by an Indiana player in his college debut, and it was his play at both ends of the court that eventually helped the eighth-ranked Hoosiers beat Chattanooga 99-79 in their season opener.

If he plays like he did tonight, we’ll be OK,” coach Kelvin Sampson said, drawing laughter. “He’s going to play hard every night, and the thing I like is that he practices at the same pace every day. When I was at Michigan State, Magic Johnson was like that. There’s a reason those guys are good.”

While the comparisons to Johnson are premature, Gordon proved to everyone Monday why he was considered one of the highest-rated recruits a year ago. He made spectacular plays on offense, delivered a shutdown performance on defense and eclipsed the previous debut record that belonged to former NBA player George McGinnis, who scored 26 points against Eastern Michigan on Dec. 1, 1970.

Gordon’s final line: 9-of-15 from the field, 7-of-11 on 3-pointers, six rebounds, four assists.

Numbers didn’t tell the whole story, though. He ignited Indiana’s second-half charge and prompted Mocs coach John Shulman to admit he couldn’t do anything on offense or defense to stop Gordon.

“This is not an easy atmosphere for anyone to come in, especially on Eric Gordon freshman night,” Shulman said. “They should have given out posters. I’d get mine autographed. He was terrific. I had no answer.”

Gordon’s teammates took advantage of his presence, too.

Senior forward D.J. White, who spent most of last season trying to fight through extra defenders, finished with 17 points. Point guard Armon Bassett scored 20 points and the Hoosiers’ other big freshman, Jordan Crawford, had 13.

The 99 points was the sixth-highest mark in a season opener in school history, and the Mocs (1-1) simply couldn’t keep up with the pace.

Kevin Bridgewaters led Chattanooga, scoring 14 points in the first half before getting shut out for the final 20 minutes when Sampson asked Gordon to defend him. Kevin Goffney scored 13 points and Nicchaeus Doaks had 12.

“We couldn’t get off ball screens and he disrupted everything we did offensively,” Shulman said of Gordon. “He was the difference at both ends.”

The night was far from perfect.

After Indiana (1-0) used a 12-3 run to take a 29-18 lead midway through the first half, Hoosiers fans expected a rout.

Instead, Chattanooga rallied with a 12-0 spurt to take a 44-40 lead with 3:39 left in the half and it led 50-46 at halftime. As Indiana left the court, there was a smattering of boos.

Gordon and White changed that early in the second half.

White grabbed a rebound and dunked, and then Gordon, trailing on a breakaway, made a highlight-reel one-handed slam that brought the crowd to its feet.

“It’s just two points,” Gordon said. “But you love to get the crowd going.”

The Mocs were within 65-61 with 11:30 to go.

Gordon’s long 3-pointer in the middle of a 13-6 run got the crowd revved again and when it was over the Hoosiers finally control with a 78-67 lead with 9:12 left.

Indiana endured only one real scare after that.

With 6:09 to go, a jumping White was undercut by a Mocs player. White crashed hard to the floor and teammates quickly gathered around him, some holding his bleeding head off the ground.

A few minutes later, with a towel on his cut left eye, White gave fans a thumbs-up as he was helped to the locker room.

Sampson said White needed stitches to close the gash, and Bassett indicated he would likely be OK to play in the Hoosiers’ next game, Sunday against Longwood.

“D.J.’s fine, he’s going to be all right,” Bassett said. “He feels a little tweety-birdish right now.”

But it was the coming out party that Gordon and the Indiana fans had envisioned since last fall, when Gordon took back his commitment from Illinois and signed with the Hoosiers.

“I thought I played pretty good,” he said. “I just tried to step up in different situations and so did a lot of other players on our team.”