Chicago Bulls: Kawhi Leonard’s dominance apparent vs. Pat Williams
The result that first-year head coach Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls were looking for at home at the United Center on the night of Feb. 12 is not what arrived for this team in the end. Donovan and the Bulls took on the talented and deep Los Angeles Clippers at home on Feb. 12, looking to extend their winning streak to two games.
Even though the Clippers were missing half of their star duo of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard in this meeting with the Bulls in Chicago, they still got the job done. Kawhi and the Clippers took control of this game in the first half and never really looked back. The Bulls did hang tough considering the level of the competition, but they never held a comfortable lead themselves.
A Bulls team that is still down the likes of fourth-year power forward Lauri Markkanen, third-year center Wendell Carter Jr., small forward Otto Porter Jr., etc. also had trouble keeping pace with the depth of the Clippers in this game. The Clippers had a whopping three players off their bench that scored in double figures.
The Clippers bench was highlighted by a solid 20 point night from Marcus Morris.
What Kawhi did to the Chicago Bulls
But that paled in comparison to what Leonard was able to do on both ends of the floor for them. Leonard didn’t have any trouble working past the defense of rookie forward Patrick Williams. In this game, Leonard registered a game-high 33 points, to go along with six rebounds, three assists, two steals, and no turnovers. He shot an efficient 14-of-21 from the field, 1-of-6 from beyond the arc, and 4-of-5 from the free-throw line.
Williams just had a really tough night for the Bulls in general. In 35 minutes played, Williams registered just three points, four rebounds, one assist, and one block. Williams shot 1-of-5 from the field, 0-of-1 from beyond the arc, and 1-of-2 from the free-throw line.
Really the only spark that the Bulls got on the offensive end of the floor in the starting five came from the backcourt duo of second-year point guard Coby White and star shooting guard Zach LaVine. White continued to build off the momentum he found in the win over the New Orleans Pelicans back on Feb. 10.
In this game, White registered 17 points, four assists, three rebounds, and one block. He shot an efficient 7-of-14 from the field and 3-of-8 from beyond the arc. He was the second leading scorer in this game for the Bulls.
Meanwhile, LaVine continues to be red hot on the offensive end. LaVine registered a team-high 26 points, to go along with nine rebounds, six assists, and just two turnovers. He shot a solid 11-of-21 from the field and 4-of-7 from beyond the arc.
There was still a spark that the Bulls got off the bench. Their frontcourt was just dominated in this game, causing the 19-point shortfall to the Clippers in the end. Second-year center Daniel Gafford, Williams, and even center Luke Kornet, were dominated down low in this game.
The Bulls need to figure it out in their frontcourt rotation or else this type of result will continue against tougher teams like the Clippers. The defense also has to improve dramatically. The Clippers got seven blocks in this game, compared to three for the Bulls. And Leonard and the Clippers shot an impressive 59 percent from the field approximately.
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Following the loss to the Clippers on Feb. 12, the Bulls now boast a record of 10-15. They still wit well within striking distance of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but they have to be careful now to fall too far behind the eight seed in the near future. Next up for the Bulls is a meeting with the Indiana Pacers on the road on the night of Feb. 15.