On the backend of a back-to-back, the Chicago Bulls’ stars had the night off.
To be clear, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic did take the floor, but it didn’t take long for the three to realize that their teammates could do most of the heavy lifting.
Indeed, in what is one of the most shocking box scores of the season, Javonte Green led all Bulls scorers with 17 points on a perfect 7-7 shooting performance from the field. Right behind him were Patrick Williams and Goran Dragic, who combined for their own 13-18 showing.
The role players were in complete control of this game, out-hustling and outworking the undermanned Charlotte Hornets from the opening tip-off. The Bulls went on to lead by as much as 20 in the 2nd half and tied their season-high with 16 made shots from behind the arc. On the other end, they held the Hornets to just 39.1 percent shooting and scored a whopping 29 points off turnovers.
While I’m somewhat disappointed with the “big 3’s” inability to find their rhythm against this Hornets team, I also don’t blame them for leaning on the reserves. The fact of the matter is that the Bulls’ All-Stars are going to have to carry the workload on most nights, so it sure doesn’t hurt to have a game where they can focus primarily on setting up their teammates.
We’ll talk more about Patrick Williams’ second-straight aggressive outing and the outstanding play of Goran Dragic tomorrow. For now, I’m just going to go to bed happy knowing the Bulls have their first back-to-back win of the season.
Check out the full box score here.