If there is such a category for the Chicago Bulls in the Las Vegas NBA Summer League for best loss, that happened late in the night of Aug. 15. The Bulls came into this fourth Summer League game to round out the weekend with a record of 1-2, with some notable struggles in the prior outing.
That prior outing for the Bulls in Vegas resulted in a big loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves back on Aug. 12. At least the Bulls did respond well to that double-digit loss to the Timberwolves in the final game of the announced portion of the Summer League schedule.
The Bulls faced the Memphis Grizzlies to try and move the record back to .500 to round out the weekend. And the Bulls came out with a strong effort. Rookie point guard Ayo Dosunmu was good at almost every phase of this game. Fellow rookie and big man Marko Simonovic was also solid in this meeting with the Grizzlies.
But the Bulls were missing second-year forward Patrick Williams in this game, which clearly hurt the odds to win. P-Will was the driving force for mostly any success the Bulls found in Summer League thus far.
Moreover, it was good to see the Bulls put up a good effort in Vegas, despite the absence of P-Will in the lineup. Dosunmu and Simonovic driving success is a good sign for the younger part of the Bulls roster heading into Training Camp and the preseason.
Dosunmu registered a game-high 26 points, seven rebounds, three assists, one steal, and no blocks. And he shot 11-of-21 from the field, 1-of-5 from beyond the arc, and 3-of-3 from the free-throw line.
It was great to see this type of production from Dosunmu to spearhead the Bulls offensively, but it would be nice to see him be more efficient in getting to the free-throw line and shooting from deep. Putting up 26 points on 21 field goal attempts still isn’t the most efficient stat line in the world.
Ayo Dosunmu and Marko Simonovic really good for the Chicago Bulls in a loss to the Grizzlies
Nonetheless, Dosunmu did power the Bulls offense here, with some help from Simonovic. The former KK Mega Bemax center registered 14 points, six rebounds, six assists, two steals, and no blocks. And he shot 7-of-13 from the field, 0-of-2 from beyond the arc, and missed on his only attempt from the charity stripe.
Some of the problems the Bulls faced here emerged with turnovers and other poor shooting performances. Former Los Angeles Clippers and Washington Wizards guard Jerome Robinson continued his struggles shooting from the field (1-of-8 in this game), as did Jaylen Adams.
Robinson and Adams combined to shoot 5-of-23 from the field. And the Bulls as a team shot just 18 percent from downtown.
There is at least one more game that the Bulls will have guaranteed in Summer League. The four-game pre-announced portion of the schedule will feed into the final tournament, where the Bulls will have one of the lower seeds coming in with a record of 1-3.
Despite the combined 40 points, 13 rebounds, nine assists, and three steals, that Simonovic and Dosunmu managed for the Bulls against the Grizzlies, they still came up short by a score of 96-91.
Next up for Simonovic, Dosunmu, and the Bulls is a meeting with the Charlotte Hornets in this postseason tournament for the Summer League. The Bulls and Hornets are set to tip off at 9 p.m. CT in Las Vegas on Aug. 16.