Chicago Bulls: 2 studs, 1 dud, from enduring win over Rockets

Chicago Bulls dud from win over the Rockets: Nikola Vucevic

The two-time All-Star center Nikola Vucevic is still having some trouble at times finding his rhythm. Vucevic is coming through with some disappointing performances more often than not given how good he was in the last few seasons for the Orlando Magic. He was also solid for the Bulls in his run with the team post-deadline last season.

This definitely wasn’t the worst outing we’ve ever seen from Vucevic, but he was still having a lot of trouble finding his rhythm from beyond the arc. Vucevic finished up this game with 18 points on 8-of-18 shooting from the field, 2-of-8 from beyond the arc, and with no attempts from the free-throw line.

Vucevic also came up with six rebounds, four assists, no steals, two blocks, and no turnovers. While it was good to see Vucevic go through this game without turning the ball over, and protecting the rim well with two blocks, there were some downsides for him here.

It was also difficult to come up with any other duds on this list given how well most of the Bulls played in this game. We’re hoping to see Vucevic find his rhythm soon as he is still shooting the lowest field goal percentage of his career (around 40.5) and the second-lowest percentage from the free-throw line (63.9) of his career to date.

In a game where the Bulls were also out-rebounded slightly, it would also be good to see Vucevic come down with more than six rebounds. He was active on the boards at times, but could’ve got better positioning down low throughout most of the game.