NEWSLETTER
DeMar DeRozan had 37 points, Zach LaVine led the second-half surge, and Ayo Dosunmu erased the 19-point deficit with the biggest shot of his young NBA career. Each player was pivotal in the team’s historic comeback effort against the Boston Celtics on Monday night. But none brought what Nikola Vucevic did to the table.
While the big man’s 11 points on 5-11 shooting made for a rather quiet scoring night, he was anything but on the sideline. According to Dosunmu, Vucevic was the one to speak up on the bench with his team down a discouraging 16 points, reminding them the only way to get back into the game would be to step back into their comfort zone.
“I give credit to Vooch because we came into a timeout, I think we were down 16, and he spoke up about it. No one said anything back, everyone just took it and from that point on we just went out there and played back to how we should play,” Dosunmu told reporters after the game. “He just said we weren’t moving the ball as well, and we were settling for tough shots that we are capable of making, but we have so many good pieces on our team that the more we move the ball and move side to side to let everyone showcase their abilities, then we can get whatever shot we want to.”
All things considered, Vucevic’s start to the season has been rocky at best. The big man opened the 2021-22 campaign with a grimace-inducing 17-48 performance over the first three games, and he has yet to recover. His field goal percentage sits at an underwhelming 39.6 percent, while his clip from downtown hangs at just 30.0 percent one season after shooting a career-high 38.0 percent. The law of averages tells us that it’s only a matter of time before the 49.5 percent career-shooter figures things out. But, until then, last night’s work around the margins showed exactly why he will remain one of the league’s top big men.
While his 10 rebounds (two of which came on the offensive glass in the 4th quarter) and two blocks were big, Vucevic’s playmaking was key to the team’s bounce-back effort. He not only said all the right words on the bench, but the veteran took control when he stepped on the court. His nine assists were a season-high and a game-high, and he nearly single-handedly jump-started the team’s late-game ball movement with six of dishes coming from the 4:23 mark in the 3rd quarter on.
Vucevic repeatedly fed the hot hand and found holes in the Boston defense to set up high-percentage looks. When Josh Richardson went to double-team Vucevic at the elbow, he quickly rose and threw the pass to the open Ayo Dosunmu, who hit the go-ahead 3-pointer. When Vucevic caught the ball at the top of the key and saw Marcus Smart stuck between DeRozan and Derrick Jones Jr. in the paint, he sent a bullet to the piping hot DeRozan, who stepped into his spot for a baseline midrange jumper.
Vucevic’s best play of the game was easily his tip pass off the offensive rebound with just 3:46 to go. After LaVine missed the 3-pointer on the back of the rim, Vucevic reached over Horford and served the ball to the open Derrick Jones Jr. underneath the basket. Jones knocked down the layup to give the Bulls a 116-112 lead. The Celtics would go on to score just one more basket before the final buzzer sounded.
No pass will necessarily stand out (besides the great tip to DJJ at the end), but Nikola Vucevic’s IQ came through big vs. BOS.
6 of his 9 assists came from the 4:23 mark in the 3rd on. Promoted better ball movement by feeding the hot hand fast.
Key part of that comeback. pic.twitter.com/iS6jvSjsC2
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) November 2, 2021
This quick and decisive trigger by the Bulls All-Star big man played a crucial role in helping the team’s offense look the best it had all night. And it just demonstrated another reason why the front office invested in him at last season’s trade deadline.
While he may best be known for his versatile scoring ability, it’s his court vision and decision-making with the basketball that has made him such a reliable go-to player over the years.
And, for the Bulls, the performance served as yet another example of how this team can beat you down the stretch. The court is full of high-IQ talent, and no matter whose hand the ball ends up in, that player can make the right read at the right time. When is the last time we could say that?
