Game 1: Bulls complete 16-point comeback – lose.
Game 2: Bulls complete 14-point comeback – win.
Hey, I like that! Well, like one and a half of that.
As much as they tried to risk it in the first half, the Chicago Bulls pulled off their first win of the 2019-20 season against the Memphis Grizzles. But instead of lingering on the first-half woes, let’s just talk about what went right in the Bulls’ 110-102 win.
Zach LaVine went off, finishing the game with 37 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, three steals, and a block. In other words, he was just doing Zach LaVine things.
https://twitter.com/chicagobulls/status/1187927346206121986
Arguably even more impressive though was the continued effort from rookie Coby White, who came up huge when the Bulls needed him the most. He scored 10 points in the third quarter, seven of which came in a clutch two-minute span to bring the team within two. White then went on to score 11 more points in the 4th quarter, finishing the game with 25 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists off the bench. You LOVE to see it.
Coby White is special.
Stream the 4th quarter here: https://t.co/qTvUtnjVER pic.twitter.com/HaFpO48II4
— Bulls Talk (@NBCSBulls) October 26, 2019
What you don’t necessarily LOVE to see is two of the Bulls players combining for 56 percent of the team’s points. Moving forward, the team will need a much stronger offensive effort, especially if they’re looking to play with this heavy ball movement.
In other news, the Bulls came out in the second half and actually remembered that defense is a thing NBA teams do. The Grizzlies field goal percentage dropped from 48 percent in the first half to 34 percent in the second. Chicago held Memphis to only 42 second-half points in a much improved defensive performance (keep in mind anything is “much improved” from what was previously going on).
At the end of the night, pulling off a win against the Grizzlies isn’t anything to hang your hat on, but grabbing a win in this fashion on the road before a home-opener can go a long way in building confidence. Hopefully, the rest of the team can feed of White and LaVine’s fight as they head into tomorrow’s matchup against the Raptors.
Let’s do it again!
Coby to Lauri for the exclamation point. BULLS WIN!!! pic.twitter.com/LSza4cpGfF
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) October 26, 2019