Atlanta Hawks at Chicago Bulls: Game Analysis
By Malik Fourte
Kyle Korver and Doug McDermott returned to their old stomping grounds and Michael Carter-Williams made his Chicago Bulls debut on Thursday night against the Atlanta Hawks.
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The Chicago Bulls’ preseason finale was a Creighton University homecoming for alums Doug McDermott and Kyle Korver. Denzel Valentine (ankle sprain) and Nikola Mirotic (lower back strain) did not play for the Bulls.
First Quarter
Bobby Portis channeled his Arkansas collegiate days, debuting a fresh headband alongside teammate Rajon Rondo.
The whole makeup of the quarter seemed to be very balanced between both teams. Dwyane Wade and Atlanta’s Kent Bazemore got off to solid starts for their respective teams.
Michael Carter-Williams saw his first action of the night, hitting the floor with roughly four minutes remaining in the initial quarter. He scored his first points in a Bulls uniform with a fast break alley oop dunk. Credit to Wade for the assist.
The Bulls shot just 33.3 percent from the field in opposition to the Hawks’ 52.4 percent.
End of 1st: Hawks lead 25-21
Second Quarter
McDermott dropped his first bucket on the night over fellow Creighton alum Kyle Korver. In the few ensuing possessions, Wade threw up a contested 3-pointer right through the defense of Korver. Wade being Wade, this shot caught straight nylon for three more points on the stat sheet.
Robin Lopez displayed his defensive tenacity, tallying a dominating six blocks in the first half.
Rondo and Jimmy Butler combined for shooting just 3-for-14 as the Bulls made only 28.9 percent of their shots. Butler leads the team in scoring with 10 points.
Carter-Williams is still getting his feet wet, playing a cool seven minutes in the first half.
Halftime: Hawks lead 44-39
Third Quarter
Taj Gibson sparked the team up again, being a catalyst to the 7-0 run to help the Bulls take a quick lead early on. He scored 10 of his 12 points while grabbing four rebounds in the quarter.
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Butler finally found an open shot, hitting his defender with a pump fake then a one-dribble pull up jumper. He shot 2-for-5 in the quarter. He lead all scorers with 16 points heading into the final quarter.
End of 3rd: Hawks lead 68-62
Fourth Quarter
The Bulls cut the Hawks’ lead down to two points, but the Hawks answered back and stretched the lead back to seven. Quick timeout by Fred Hoiberg.
Korver started to torch the Bulls towards the halfway point. He drained two straight 3-pointers to force a timeout from the Bulls.
The team struggled to find an offensive rhythm all game long. The fourth quarter showed just that, as well as lackluster off-ball defense on the Hawks’ primary shooters.
The trio of Rondo, Wade, and Butler combined to shoot only 9-for-37 on the game, 24 percent. This was a definite portrayal of an off-night from the team’s core.
McDermott finished with 16 points on 5-for-15 shooting, 2-for-6 from 3-point range in his homecoming game. Korver dropped 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting, 4-for-8 from behind the 3-point line.
The Bulls failed to reach 40 percent shooting over the course of the entire game. They finished shooting 30.5 percent.
Final Score: Bulls fall 97-81 (finish preseason with a 3-4 record)