The Chicago Bulls lost to the Golden State Warriors 146-109 in an absolute bloodbath on Friday night to kick off road trip.
The Chicago Bulls got steamrolled in a game that featured a rare Robin Lopez three, but still somehow wasn’t fun. Only Zach LaVine and Bobby Portis cracked the double-digit scoring mark before the end of the third quarter.
Lavine notched 29 points on 10-of-16 shooting, including three treys and six free throws. He also had four rebounds and five turnovers. Portis had 16 points, four rebounds and two steals in just 17 minutes as a spark plug off the bench.
Antonio Blakeney and Ryan Arcidiacono reached the double digit mark in the fourth during garbage time, pouring in 12 and 10, respectively.
The night’s start was reminiscent of Chicago’s game against the Warriors in October, when Klay Thompson set a new three-point record and the Bulls lost 149-124.
The Warriors got out ahead from the jump, forcing a Bulls timeout only under two minutes into the game which has to be in contention for quickest timeout of the season.
Golden State hammered the Bulls, getting their points off of transition buckets and mismatches. It was a stark contrast of styles as the Warriors whipped the ball up, down and across the court while Chicago stuck to post ups and long possessions.
Near the end of the first quarter, head coach Jim Boylen trotted out a lineup of Arcidiacono, Blakeney, Wayne Selden, Chandler Hutchison and Portis, pushing for a small ball group with minimal defense and shooting. Chicago didn’t crack the ten point mark until there was just a little more than three minutes left in the period.
The Bulls showed more life in the second quarter, outscoring the Warriors 38-33. Portis sparked Chicago early with a series of quick post ups on mismatches, a three and a great pass out of a double to Shaquille Harrison for a layup.
It was the LaVine show from there on out. The fifth-year guard led the way with 24 points on lights-out shooting, including three triples and a pair of thunderous dunks courtesy of Harrison.
The second half was a familiar sight for Bulls fans. Chicago, already down big, but at least playing some competitive basketball, fell apart. Completely.
Golden State outscored the Bulls 40-21 in the third quarter, and outplayed Chicago on both ends of the floor. LaVine’s stellar play fell off and, without anybody else stepping up to carry the scoring load, so too did the Bulls.
The most interesting series of events of the night occured when, following a no call, Wendell Carter Jr. received a technical foul for “continuous complaining.”
The call incensed Kris Dunn and Portis, who both immediately began to chirp with Warriors forwards Draymond Green and Kevin Durant. Less than a minute later, Portis and Durant received a double technical as the two teams continued to talk with the score at 91-63. The Bulls all but rolled over from there on out, surrendering 25 points over the next five minutes.
Wendell Carter Jr’s Playtime
Despite the game being well out of reach early on, Wendell Carter Jr. only logged 17 minutes and sat the entire fourth quarter. Hutchison, who also started, played 29 minutes while Wayne Selden logged 21.
It’s mind boggling that Carter sat so much of this game. It makes no sense unless we’re to believe that the Bulls are prioritizing 26-year-old Cristiano Felicio, who played nine minutes in the fourth, and his development.
This marks the tenth time this season that Carter has played less than 20 minutes. What’s the point of suffering these embarrassing blowouts if younger players aren’t being given the chance to develop?
While I’ve grown to trust (most) of Chicago’s front office’s draft decisions, those picks mean little if the organization proves unable to develop them in the new rebuild. And with Lauri Markkanen continuing to struggle to find his fit in this offense, it’s hard not to imagine growth is being stunted here.