The Chicago Bulls were too much for the Detroit Pistons to handle

The Chicago Bulls beat the short-handed Detroit Pistons in convincing fashion tonight in Little Caesars Arena. Here’s how it all unfolded.

Despite the Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons having similar records, one team was clearly better than the other tonight. Sure, the Pistons were without two of their best players (Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin), but the Bulls can’t control who the opponent puts on the court. All they can do is play the team in front of them to the best of their abilities, and that’s exactly what they did tonight.

Chicago looked like the better team right off the bat. They were moving faster, had better ball movement and just simply seemed to care more. They jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead.  The Pistons quickly woke up and went on a short run of their own, keeping the game close until the end. Even though the score was close, though, the Bulls always looked like the better team.

Zach LaVine played one of his best games of the season. He was patient all night, picking his spots and letting the game come to him. He scored 33 points on a splendid 9-of-15 shooting from the field and 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point land. He also got to the free-throw line 14 times, which was awesome to see. A rim-attacking Zach is a good Zach. In addition to his game-high 33 points, LaVine grabbed five rebounds and dished out five assists. He was a +20 on the night.

Lauri Markkanen was also pretty good, but Jim Boylen held him back from reaching his nightly ceiling. Markkanen finished the game with an efficient 15 points but played less than 30 minutes. It didn’t end up mattering tonight since the Bulls got the win anyway, but there’s no reason Markkanen should’ve played less than 30 minutes. He was even pretty good on defense tonight, recording two impressive blocks.

One guy Boylen didn’t short was Tomas Satoransky. He finally gave the Bulls’ best point guard, and one of their best overall players, an appropriate share of minutes. Sato got 38 minutes tonight and made the most of ’em, scoring an efficient 16 points to go along with eight rebounds and five assists. He had a fantastic game.

LaVine, Markkanen and Satoransky weren’t the only guys who made some noise tonight. Coby White got hot and knocked down five of his seven 3-point attempts, tallying 19 points in 18 minutes. Wendell Carter Jr. recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Kris Dunn was his usual pesky self, stealing the ball four times and playing lockdown defense.

The Bulls have now won two games in a row and will look to make it three on Monday in Orlando.