Chicago Bulls studs from the win over the Raptors: Troy Brown Jr.
There are many Bulls players to pick from as to who the last stud could be from this narrow three-point win over the Raptors in the second road game of the regular season. Star shooting guard Zach LaVine helped to spark the Bulls’ offense again, but he was lacking on defense and had some bad late-game mishaps.
Second-year forward Patrick Williams was largely hidden in this game again as he took only three field-goal attempts. And newly signed point guard Lonzo Ball was effective at times but had the turnover bug bite him big time down the stretch.
This is where we arrive at the biggest spark plug to the offense that the Bulls found off the bench in this win, former Washington Wizards shooting guard/small forward Troy Brown Jr.
As the lone reserve player for Donovan and the Bulls in this game to score in double figures, Brown played a big role in this win. His defensive play is also better than you could read on paper as he made some critical plays coming off the bench.
Brown finished up this game with 11 points, two rebounds, one assist, no steals, no blocks, and no turnovers. And he shot an efficient 5-of-9 from the field, 1-of-4 from beyond the arc, and he didn’t have any attempts from the free-throw line.
The one qualm that I continue to have with the way the Bulls are using Brown is the fact that he isn’t a great shooter from the corners. There were times in previous years where Brown was a decent three-point shooter from the corners. And he did shoot 50 percent from the corners on three-point attempts in the first three games.
But Brown went 1-of-3 from the corners in this game. And he is still shooting well below 35 percent on corner three-point attempts since landing with the Bulls at the trade deadline last season.