The Chicago Bulls ended their seven-game losing streak with a 114-113 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday in the United Center. It’s time to check out my one like and dislike from the game.
The Chicago Bulls ended their seven-game losing streak with a 114-113 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday in the United Center. The game marked former star guard/forward Jimmy Butler’s first game against the Bulls since being traded over the summer.
Tank-o-meter:
The Chicago Bulls’ record is 19-35 after the win. They have the eighth-worst record in the league and are three games out of the worst record in the association.
Fun Fact #1:
Guard Zach LaVine, the player of the game, scored a season-high 35 points in the win over the Timberwolves. It’s the first time he’s scored 30 or more points in a game since he scored 40 points in a Dec. 23, 2016 contest against the Sacramento Kings.
He’s scored 20 or more points in four consecutive games for the first time this season. The last time he scored 20 points in four consecutive games was last season as a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
He scored 25 points in a Dec. 11, 2016 game vs. the Golden State Warriors, notched 24 points in a Dec. 13, 2016 game against the Chicago Bulls, recorded 24 points in a Dec. 17, 2016 contest vs. the Houston Rockets and tallied 23 points in a Dec. 19, 2016 game against the Phoenix Suns.
Fun Fact #2:
The Chicago Bulls made 23 free-throws in their win against the Timberwolves. This is the first time this season the Bulls made 20 or more free-throws in three consecutive games.
The last time they made 20 or more free-throws in three consecutive games was in their Feb. 14 contest against the Toronto Raptors, their Feb. 16 game vs. the Boston Celtics and their Feb. 24 contest against the Phoenix Suns.
Like: Zach LaVine closing out the game
Goodbye Jimmy G. Buckets. Hello Zachary G. Buckets!
Is that too soon? It probably is. It also doesn’t have the same ring to it. But, you get the point.
The former lottery-pick out of UCLA went at his former team and proved he can be the closer the Chicago Bulls need in front of their old closer in Butler. LaVine balled out in the final period and scored a quarter-high 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting.
Not a bad last 77 seconds to tonight's game... #BullsNation pic.twitter.com/3RHAqE7aZF
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) February 10, 2018
It was clear who was considered the alpha on the team. LaVine took five of the Bulls’ seven shots when the game approached clutch situations; which is in the final five minutes of the game when the point differential is five points or less.
The Chicago Bulls trusted LaVine to get them the win and delivered. He went 2-of-5 from the field, 1-of-2 from beyond the arc and 6-of-7 from the charity stripe en route to 11 points in the clutch.
This includes three consecutive made free-throws to give the Bulls a one-point lead before Timberwolves center Karl Anthony-Towns and Butler missed jump shots on the closing possessions of the game.
LaVine has displayed a strong ability in making tough shots throughout his career. That skill is going to come in handy in the future when the Bulls need someone to carry them to the promise land like he did last night.
Dislike: Not enough shots for Markkanen
This has been an ongoing problem concerning rookie forward Lauri Markkanen. He’s taken 10 field goal attempts or less in nearly 33 percent of the game he’s played in. Last night was another one of those games.
He finished the game with seven field goal attempts even though he made more than half of his shots and went 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. He was tied with forward Bobby Portis for the sixth-most field goal attempts in the game despite Portis playing almost 13 minutes less than him.
Markkanen made a sweet turnaround, fadeaway jump-shot with one minute and 30 seconds left in the third quarter and didn’t have a single field goal attempt after that. He played seven minutes and 51 seconds to close the game and didn’t take a single shot during that time.
It’s understandable why LaVine would take a significant amount of the shots to close the game. He can efficiently score from all three levels of the half-court, even when he’s contested, he’s the team’s leading scorer and is one of the most experienced players on the roster.
But, Markkanen is a better and more reliable scorer than Portis, forward Justin Holiday, guard Jerian Grant and forward Denzel Valentine. He needs to be treated as much and Head Coach Fred Hoiberg needs to do a better job of consistently putting him in positions where he can score.