Chicago Bulls: 2 studs, 1 dud from late win over Hawks

Chicago Bulls dud from late win over the Hawks: Nikola Vucevic

There were a few candidates for the Bulls from this win over the Hawks that could fit into the dud slot. But we give this slot to the two-time All-Star center Nikola Vucevic since he had some issues getting going on the offensive end of the floor in this game. We also needed to see more from Vucevic on the boards as the Hawks got so many second-chance points.

It is largely up to Vucevic to help stave off those second-chance opportunities, especially when Hawks’ big man Clint Capela is off the floor. Yet, Vucevic was still getting beat on the glass oftentimes when the second-year big man Onyeka Okongwu was on the floor.

The good news for Donovan and the Bulls moving forward is something we touched on earlier, though. Whenever there are some difficulties that Vucevic is facing in the frontcourt in terms of matchups, the Bulls now have Thompson to turn to off the bench.

Nonetheless, Vucevic gave the Bulls a dozen points in this game on just 4-of-13 shooting from the field, 0-of-2 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. There were too many opportunities Vucevic had near the basket that were missed to confidently say this was a good outing for him.

Vucevic also gave the Bulls a team-high 10 rebounds, three assists, two steals, two blocks, and a team-high three turnovers. It was nice to see Vucevic coming up with two steals and two blocks. That is a good sign moving forward.

Hopefully, this was just one down game for Vucevic from inside the arc and on the glass and he can continue his increased efforts playing on-ball defense.