The Chicago Bulls started their three game road trip with a win against the Hawks. Here are three takeaways from the game.
After having lost five straight games in Atlanta, Chicago finally took a game from the Hawks in Philips Arena. The Bulls walloped the Hawks, 113-97. Chicago has now won four of their last five contests and is 5-5 in January. Nobody played more than 32 minutes in the blowout, which the Bulls led wire-to-wire.
With the loss, the Hawks slide to 13-32. Along with Orlando and Sacramento, Atlanta is now tied for the worst record in the NBA. Chicago, only five games clear of that record, could still find itself in the mix for the league’s worst record. But which key cog will they want or be able to flip for a draft pick by the February 8th deadline? Will they even want to flip that cog?
Hawks entered the contest slotted 7th in three-point conversion percentage, at 38.5%. Their average looks to dip now. They were doomed in large point by horrible three point shooting. They connected on just 11 of 48 three-point attempts (23%). Those 48 three-point looks comprised a significant chunk of their entire field goal offensive portfolio.
The modern NBA can yield these kinds of nights when the players shooting aren’t Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant. Chicago, meanwhile, connected on 43% of their triples, making 14 of 32.
Zach LaVine’s shooting woes continue, but darn if he doesn’t look cool
Though Zach LaVine’s minutes allowance was boosted to 24 in advance of the game last night, he only needed to log 18 and change to make a difference in this blowout. LaVine had eight points and nine rebounds. He continued to showcase the athleticism that I for one was concerned he could lack after his ACL surgery last season.
LaVine moved well, though his shooting struggles carried over from Wednesday’s Warriors bout. He made just two of his nine field goal attempts. At least he got to the line a bit! He connected on three of his four looks from the charity stripe.
Robin Lopez’s hot scoring night
Robin Lopez continues to make life easy for Lauri Markkanen and the Bulls’ backcourt corps. RoLo capitalized on the Hawks’ middling options in the middle to a great scoring night, knocking down 20 points. Lopez made nine of his 13 field goal attempts. Lopez showed off his complete arsenal this evening.
Robin had a snazzy sky hook at one point. His offensive total served as a game high across either team. Markkanen, the Bulls’ prized rookie, netted 19 points of his own on eight-of-16 shooting from the field. He also grabbed five rebounds and notched two assists.
If Robin Lopez becomes the odd man out at the trade deadline, Lauri Markkanen will sorely miss him. His underrated passing was on full display tonight. In the middle of the third quarter, RoLo had a masterful alley-oop feed to the Finnisher from the top of the three point line.
That was not Markkanen’s only nasty dunk of the night. All of the rookie sensation’s offense came from his activity around the post. He missed all four of his three-point attempts, but more than made up for it with some nifty paint moves.
Is Ryan Arcidiacono worth an extended look?
The rookie Arcidiacono (pronounced “Arch-eh-DEE-ah-cohn-oh”) scored his first NBA points in his second NBA game. Chicago called up the un-drafted 23 year-old Villanova product from the Windy City Bulls in the wake of Kris Dunn’s gruesome tooth injury. Arcidiacono brought solid, scrappy defense to bear against Hawks point guard Dennis Schroder.
In 23 minutes, Arcidiacono scored 8 points and dished out seven assists, to go along with one steal.
Arcidiacono will get a few more NBA games to try to stick. Dunn didn’t travel with Chicago to Atlanta, and will probably miss the rest of the three game road trip. Arcidiacono, though, is only the second-most intriguing Windy City Bulls G-League prospect. The 6’3” point guard’s G-League teammate, swingman Antonio Blakeney, is averaging 35 points a game.