NEWSLETTER
The Chicago Bulls saw 15 of their first 17 points come courtesy of Nikola Vucevic. But, as impressive as it was for the big man, rarely is it a good thing when only one play can muster early offense. This time was no exception.
Los Angeles came out with a vengeance. Not only were they the far more aggressive team from the start, but they were absolutely dominating on the glass. They build an early 29-17 lead and assisted on nine of their first 13 made baskets. It wasn’t until the Bulls’ bench checked in that – similar to Sunday’s game – they were able to get the Bulls into a better two-way rhythm.
As Coby White dished 5 assists, Ayo Dosunmu added 7 points in his first 9 minutes of action. DeMar DeRozan also finally found a groove and scored a swift 7 points with a steal and assist to help the Bulls string together a 14-2 run. From there, the Bulls looked ready for a dramatic back-and-forth affair in front of their home crowd. But the Lakers had other plans.
The vengeance never subsided. LA ended the first half on a back-breaking 10-0 run. They proceeded to open the 3rd quarter with an 11-4 run, as LeBron James sank some nasty baseline jumpers and the Bulls looked (*shocker*) ice cold behind the arc.
By the end of the night, the Bulls were outscored by 23 in second-chance points and 13 at the free-throw line. That about sums things up, folks.
Unlike what we saw on Monday night against the Clippers, this wasn’t about the Bulls simply looking outmatched to me. I don’t necessarily think the Lakers ran them off the floor or hit a fair share of absurd shots. If anything, this just felt like a game where the Bulls struggled to get into any sort of groove on either end. Was it frustrating? Sure, particularly when we consider they’ve now lost a game on both the Hawks and Raptors. But they remain in 10th by two games and have the Charlotte Hornets on the schedule next. Hopefully, they can take care of that tanking team and find a way to back on track.
More tomorrow. Sleep tight.
Check out the full box score here.
