The Chicago Bulls stole a win tonight in the nation’s capital. Here are some things I loved and some things I hated from the comeback win in OT.
The only certainty fans have when watching Chicago Bulls games is that the first three quarters aren’t an accurate predictor of how the game is going to end. That was proven once again tonight in D.C.
The Bulls were down for almost the entire game, leading to the Wizards taking an 18-point lead with about eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. All it took for the Bulls to come back and win the game in overtime was some heart, a few buckets and a whole lot of luck.
Here’s tonight’s love/hate list.
Love – Lauri Markkanen attacking the basket
Lauri Markkanen has started to turn things around after a dismal start to the 2019-20 NBA season. Tonight was hands down his best game yet, and it wasn’t due to his silky jumper. It was all because he attacked the basket.
The Finnisher did an incredible job of running in transition and aggressively going to the hole — not settling for jumpers. And naturally, his strong inside game led to him getting open looks from 3-point territory. He finished the night with a game-high 31 points on an efficient 12-of-19 shooting from the field and 5-of-10 shooting from 3-point range. He also added nine rebounds and had a +17 plus/minus in his 37 minutes of action.
Hate – Thaddeus Young playing sleepy
Thaddeus Young was abysmal tonight. He shot poorly and made bad decisions with the ball. He even struggled on the defensive end, getting beat backdoor in a moment where the Bulls couldn’t afford to give up another basket.
He finished the game with two points on 1-of-10 shooting from the field in 20 minutes of action. Someone needs to wake Thad up and tell him he hasn’t been traded yet.
Love – Kris Dunn’s clamps
Watching Kris Dunn play defense is a fun way to spend an evening. He gives it his all every time down the floor, has insanely active hands and moves laterally with the best of ’em. Tonight, Kris made basketball a difficult game for one of the best players in the league, Bradley Beal.
Beal scored 22 points on 4-of-19 shooting from the field and 1-of-9 shooting from 3-point range. He also turned the ball over five times.
There aren’t enough words in the English language to describe the effect Dunn has on this Bulls team.
Hate – The first three quarters
Don’t get me wrong, comeback victories are incredibly fun, but we can’t throw away what happened in the first three quarters of tonight’s game.
The Bulls came out slow offensively and were unable to take advantage of the Wizards porous defense. They only had 73 points heading into the fourth quarter. The most frustrating part of watching the Bulls play offense was their glaring inability to take advantage of the 5-foot-9 Isaiah Thomas. It doesn’t matter who had the ball. If Thomas was guarding someone, it was a mismatch in favor of the Bulls.
It’s important to celebrate wins like this, but the Bulls need to take a long, hard look in the mirror and diagnose all that went wrong.
Love – Zach LaVine playing like a star player
Zach LaVine was really bad for the majority of this game, but it was actually one of my favorite Zach LaVine games I’ve ever seen. He scored 24 points on 6-of-23 shooting from the field and 1-of-8 shooting from 3-point range.
The box score doesn’t tell the whole story, though.
Tonight, LaVine did what star players do. He made tough, timely shots down the stretch, defended hard, knocked down clutch free throws, and made some brilliant passes — all after playing horribly for three quarters. He didn’t rely on a hot night of shooting to help the Bulls win a game. He just played good basketball.
That’s what Zach can do night in and night out. He doesn’t need to be hot every night — he just needs to play smart every night.
The Bulls will look to keep the momentum going on Saturday evening in Detroit.