NEWSLETTER
Break out the champagne bottles. Gear up the confetti cannons. Blast the music.
The Chicago Bulls did it, folks. They managed to hold onto a second-half lead and beat one of the worst teams in the NBA. Halle–freakin’-lujah.
To be sure, it didn’t always look like we’d be celebrating (sarcastically). After going on a 13-2 run in the 2nd quarter and taking a solid 60-47 lead into halftime, the Bulls started to slip in the same exact fashion we saw during the previous two losses to the Pacers and Hornets. Orlando was able to regain momentum and shrink the Bulls’ 25-point lead all the way down to just 6 points in the 4th quarter.
Fortunately, though, the Bulls’ All-Star trio was able to finally weather the storm. While they got a little help from some poor Magic shot selection, each of the three players hit some big buckets down the stretch. Patrick Williams also made his presence felt with a couple of key rebounds and two huge 3s in the final frame.
When the buzzer sounded, the Bulls’ trio and Williams combined for 106 points on 66 percent shooting from the field. LaVine and DeRozan each finished with 32 points on just 11 made buckets. Good stuff.
The Bulls’ off-ball player movement that led to 30 assists was a major reason why they were able to build a big enough lead to win the game tonight. Time after time they found each other wide open under the rim or on hard cuts to the basket. One can only hope this can be something they carry into their Tuesday matchup against the Clippers’ 9th-ranked defense.
Anyway, a win over the magic ain’t anything to get excited about. The Bulls will have to build on this in a big way next week to get out of my doghouse. See ya then.
Check out the full box score here.
