I mean, what did we expect?
The Utah Jazz came into Chicago and played like the 30-11 (31-11) team they are. Meanwhile, the Chicago Bulls (19-23) played like the inexperienced and borderline Eastern Conference play-in team they are. Despite a quick first-half lead, the bulk of this game was just no contest, and I truly wish I could’ve said I didn’t see it coming.
Zach LaVine was – unsurprisingly – the only player on the court who really had life in his eyes. He dropped 27 points with 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Markkanen, on the other hand, had one of his more troubling games in quite some time with 8 points on 3-12 shooting. He didn’t make a single 3-pointer, and he only found himself at the free-throw line once. All things considered, I think it’s safe to say that isn’t the game he’d like to have a couple of days before the trade deadline.
What we saw tonight is simply who the Bulls are: A team that can look great against below -.500 teams but far from competitive against anyone else. And that’s just not enough to justify hanging up the phone on March 25th.
Anyway, one more game before the deadline. See ya Wednesday.
Check out the full box score here.