The Chicago Bulls made a stop in Arizona to take on the Phoenix Suns on Friday night. It’s the fifth game in a stretch of six consecutive on the road. At the outset, it seemed possible that the Bulls would bottom out on this trip. Instead, they’re looking to finish on a strong note. Here’s how the action went down.
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It’s good to have Jimmy Butler back in the lineup.
After three games out, Butler returned to the court and Chicago could certainly use it. Early, it was standard Fred Hoiberg stuff. Some frustrating sets, lots of ball stopping and working through the center. Butler looked to be out of the game at first, moving slowing, not moving the ball and draining too much of the shot clock. He did work his magic and get to the free throw line early.
Despite some points and offensive rebounds from Robin Lopez, it didn’t take long for the Suns to get out flying. They went from trailing to forcing a Hoiberg timeout after a series of fast break makes that gave Phoenix a decent lead. The timeout seemed to work as the Bull got back out front and built a sizeable lead. Unfortunately, Devin Booker was straight fire and ended the first quarter with 13 points, leading a 12-1 run by the Suns to take the lead at the end of the first quarter. Marquese Chriss is also looking really good, a big improvement as the season has gone on. He even managed to snag a big block on a Butler backdoor cut that looked like it was going to be an easy slam dunk.
Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic were the first Bulls off the bench, Mirotic hitting a 3-pointer early. In the second quarter, it was more long range shooting from Chicago as Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade also found the range from deep. McDermott probably got his shot so early because Paul Zipser wasn’t a go for this one.
Jerian Grant had seven minutes early, no points and one assist to go with an earful from Hoiberg for playing terrible transition defense, before he went to the bench stayed there for a while.
The runs of the first quarter mostly went away as the two sides battled evenly throughout the second quarter. Chicago was getting decent contributions across the board, no one was standing out, but McDermott and Mirotic both connected on 3-pointers off the bench, as did Rondo.
The Bulls couldn’t keep their composure, again, as they imploded before the half. In all, they were outscored 11-2 on the fastbreak and 30-12 in the paint. It just got really ugly before the half as the Bulls went from 39-39 to 56-43 at halftime.
The third quarter was much better from Chicago early on. They got out early with a 9-2 run to open it up. Chriss picked up his fourth foul of the game less than two minutes into the third. That was a huge opportunity for the Bulls. Wade did the incredible and dunked, then slammed home an alley-oop from Butler.
It was all going their way. Until it wasn’t. After closing the gap from halftime, Boooker erupted again. He had been quiet for the entire second quarter and a portion of the third before getting it going again. Chicago shaved three points off the Suns lead heading into the fourt, 86-76.
My hope entering the fourth was simple – get something from McDermott and Mirotic. Those players both need to get back on track. I try to give Doug some slack after his concussions, it’s plausible that he’s still dealing with that. However, he’s been terrible for the most part. But, he’s not playing like Mirotic. It feels like Niko sees the writing on the wall. He’s not getting a huge deal in the summer and he’s probably never sniffing the starting lineup with Chicago. This great tweet from Vincent Goodwill said it best:
Niko having trouble with shooting from 20, so he shoots from 28 feet. Same result
— Vincent Goodwill (@VinceGoodwill) February 11, 2017
As the fourth quarter went on, it became abundantly clear that neither team intended to be any good at shooting 3-pointers. Jared Dudley hit a triple early in the fourth and it made him the only player from either team to make multiple 3s at that point.
Chriss picked up a blocking foul when Denzel Valentine shot through the lane and went straight through the big man. That was most action the Bulls saw in this game as it got progressively further and further out of reach.
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By the time this game was down to the four-minute mark, both Wade and Butler were on the bench for the rest of the evening. It was a rough return to action for Butler, but Bledsoe and Booker combined for 50 points to scorch Chicago 115-97. The Bulls will go for a win to finish the road trip 3-3 when they play at Minnesota on Sunday afternoon.