Second quarter
As the second quarter got underway, things didn’t get too out of hand for the Bulls.
For one thing, Carter took advantage of the height difference between he and Clippers big man Montrezl Harrell playing with his back to the basket to score a high-percentage shot in the paint. Another thing is guard/forward Denzel Valentine got it going from beyond the arc with a three-pointer just north of the 8-minute mark.
At the same time, the Clippers had a noteworthy start to their second quarter as well. Namely, Harrell was seemingly on a mission to squash the Bulls with his former Utah Jazz star Karl Malone-like moves. He scored 17 points making him the game’s highest scorer through two quarters of action.
One problem for the Bulls is Young would get into some trouble committing three personal fouls only to take a seat on the bench with just north of 6-minutes remaining. He had scored 13 points during this stretch of the game.
Around that time, the Bulls found themselves down 51-36 to the Clippers just north of the 5-minute mark. As the game seemingly started to slip away, the Bulls staged a bit of a comeback to bring the team to within 2 points. It helps when the team hits a flurry of shots in a series of consecutive possessions. The Bulls notably benefitted from a 17-5 run in the final 3:47 of the second quarter.
By the sound of the buzzer at halftime, the Clippers only led by the Bulls 57-55. Among the highlights of the first half is seeing point guard Kris Dunn accept the challenge of guarding Paul George, which appeared to work well for the Bulls. He remained out of foul trouble taking to the floor under control for the most part.