Sports briefs

Tomas Vokoun made 27 saves and stopped three of the Sharks' four shootout attempts to remain unbeaten in his last six starts against San Jose. Alexander Radulov scored in the third period and again in the shootout as the Predators earned their league-best 43rd victory.

Evgeni Nabokov made 28 saves for San Jose and forced the shootout with a stunning glove save on Paul Kariya with a second left in overtime, but the Sharks still lost for the sixth time in eight games.

Guerin, acquired Tuesday from St. Louis in a deadline deal to add toughness and experience to a young team, wore No. 13 and looked active on a line with MVP Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo. But Nashville kept the big-name line off the scoreboard.

Bulls 113, Warriors 83

CHICAGO -- Ben Gordon scored 16 of his 22 points in the first quarter and rookie Tyrus Thomas tied a career high with 14 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 113-83 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night.

Reserve Adrian Griffin added a season-high 17 points and rookie Thabo Sefolosha scored a career-high 19 points for the Bulls, who bounced back after dropping consecutive games.

Leading 62-58 at the half, the Bulls pushed the ball up the floor and opened the third quarter by outscoring the Warriors 20-6.

Thomas started the second half after coming off the bench to start the game. He had a steal and then Gordon rewarded him on the other end with a behind-the-back pass that Thomas finished with a dunk. Kirk Hinrich followed with a 3-pointer to put Chicago up 72-60.

The Warriors have lost four straight and 12 of their last 14 on the road. They are also 1-15 in second games of back-to-backs.

Kelenna Azubuike led the Warriors with 23 points and Jason Richardson scored 17 points and had six rebounds.

Niners promote Hostler

to offensive coordinator

SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers promoted quarterbacks coach Jim Hostler to offensive coordinator Wednesday, the fifth coach to hold that job in five seasons in San Francisco.

Coach Mike Nolan chose Hostler to replace Norv Turner, who became the San Diego Chargers' head coach nearly two weeks ago, after interviewing each of the five offensive assistants Turner left behind.

Hostler spent five seasons as an assistant coach with three NFL teams before joining the 49ers in 2005 to tutor Alex Smith. Hostler has never been a coordinator -- and neither has Greg Manusky, hired as San Francisco's new defensive coordinator several weeks ago after Billy Davis was fired.

Turner spent just one season with the 49ers, but led a turnaround in one of the NFL's worst offenses. He replaced Mike McCarthy, who left San Francisco after one season to become the Green Bay Packers' head coach.