Adam Mokoka was the biggest story for the Chicago Bulls on a night where they lost to the New Orleans Pelicans by a score of 125-119.
On a night where it looked like the Chicago Bulls were going to get dominated through and through in the second half at the hands of the New Orleans Pelicans at home at the United Center, shooting guard Adam Mokoka turned it all around. On Feb. 6, the 6-foot-5 rookie two-guard and French native Mokoka scored the first point of his NBA career and made history all at the same time.
Apparently in the shot clock era, no player had ever scored at least 15 points in as little playing time as Mokoka in this game. He played in just under six minutes on the floor in this 125-119 beginning-to-end loss to the Pelicans on Thursday night. But Mokoka went a perfect 6-of-6 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 from beyond the arc for 15 points. He didn’t have any rebounds, assists, steals, or blocks. And he shot 0-of-2 from the charity stripe.
But that’s not surprising to finish up with goose eggs in those stat categories when Mokoka played in around five minutes in garbage time.
https://twitter.com/chicagobulls/status/1225626439837458432
Mokoka was mostly brought into the Bulls roster in a two-way contract spot thanks to his defensive ability that he showed off in a few games during the Las Vegas NBA Summer League. He averaged one steal per game, had around a two percent steal rate, and around 2.5 defensive rebounds per game during Summer League.
However, Mokoka didn’t get to play in but five games until tonight’s matchup against the Pelicans. And it took garbage time for head coach Jim Boylen to give more playing time to Mokoka this time around.
In this game, the Pelicans took off thanks to a team-high 21 points from rookie forward Zion Williamson. Zion took over in the third quarter, and helped the Pelicans keep a double-digit lead over the Bulls for nearly the entire second half.
The Pelicans scored 72 points in the first half alone. They didn’t slow down in the third quarter, posting 100 points less than 10 minutes in.
Shooting guard Zach LaVine posted a game-high 22 points, but it wasn’t nearly enough for the Bulls. He did have just three assists and three turnovers while shooting 1-of-5 from three-point range, so it wasn’t the most efficient night from the field for LaVine.
Zach LaVine didn't understand why his teammates were cheering during the final minutes of the game where two-way player Adam Mokoka scored 15 points.
— Daniel Greenberg (@ChiSportUpdates) February 7, 2020
LaVine: "The game was over in my book. We lost. We got our ass whooped."
(Via NBC Sport Chicago's Bulls Postgame Show)
He obviously didn’t feel the same way about Mokoka’s big performance tonight as the fans or his teammates did.
As far as the Bulls go, the night went to Mokoka. He absolutely stole the show when there was less than two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Despite LaVine’s pessimism, this was a notable outing for Mokoka that will hopefully get Boylen to put him out on the floor in key spots more often from here on out.