NEWSLETTER
SWEET VICTORY!
The Chicago Bulls move to 2-4 on the season after beating the Detroit Pistons 112-106 for their first home victory of the season (woo!). In three of the Bulls four losses, the team held a 4th quarter-lead before blowing it a big way. Tonight, it looked as though the trend would continue, but some big plays courtesy of Thaddeus Young, Wendell Carter Jr., and Zach LaVine finally helped clinch a close Bulls victory.
Honestly, after what we’ve seen over these first five games, it felt like the Bulls next win had to be like this. Carter Jr. had a couple of clutch rebounds in the final minutes, while Young and LaVine each hit a major bucket to keep the Bulls ahead when the lead was on the ropes. The Bulls, as a group, also managed to shoot 40% from three-point land tonight, which you’d love to see more.
Individually, Young finished the game with only eight points, but he pulled nine boards and record three steals throughout the night. As for LaVine, he looked closer to his old self, with 26 points, while Carter Jr. recorded his second double-double of the season (16 points and 11 rebounds). Hey, I like all of that!
Although, the true impact-player of the night award goes to … Otto Porter! *GASP*
After all the talk about his poor start, the veteran forward came out and was aggressive from the get-go. He had an efficient shooting performance, going 8-12 from the field and 3-4 from behind the arc. He also pulled down eight rebounds and dished out four assists. Porter finally mimicked the production we saw in his 15-game stretch with the Bulls last season, and he picked a good time to do it.
Also, if it wasn’t for his hot second-half start, the Bulls might be leaving the United Center tonight with a familiar, bitter taste in their mouth.
Otto Porter has 10 points in the first 5 minutes of the second half on 4/4 shooting (2/2 from three).
— Jeff Mangurten (@JeffGurt) November 2, 2019
Otto Porter Jr.: “Eventually, I knew it was going to come. I didn’t want to overreact.”
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) November 2, 2019
As a whole, the team clicked better than on any other night. The ball movement looked legit (six assists for Satoransky!), and the defense was actually bearable.
Of course, the Bulls did get some help from the Pistons (6-29 performance from three), which came as a rather big surprise after Detroit came into the game as the league’s second-best three-point shooting team. I’m not gonna lie, it was nice to see another team not hit three-pointers for once.
But give the Bulls credit: they closed out and rotated better than in previous games … even if we’re working with a low bar.
On the offensive end, the Bulls dished out their most assists thus far with 29.
Me likey:
The Bulls assisted on 29 of their 39 field goals (74.3%), well above their season average of 54.4%.
— Jeff Mangurten (@JeffGurt) November 2, 2019
The Bulls still have yet to grab themselves a “convincing” win, but tonight was a solid start in trying to find their footing. Closing out even one game for this young team might finally help them get in the right headspace.
Sunday brings another solid opportunity to pick up a victory (this time on the road) against a team that’s also had their fair share of struggles to start the season. Time to see if the Bulls can build on a decent win.
