NEWSLETTER
For as fun of a game as Friday night was, this was about the exact opposite.
Maybe the Bulls just kind of forgot the game started an hour early, but they came out of the gates with little to no energy and trailed Orlando 31-14 after the first quarter. And really, that was basically the game. Chicago went on a few runs and cut the lead to 10 or fewer a couple of times, but whenever it would get to that point the Magic would just kind of knock the Bulls back down.
Midway through the 4th quarter, the Bulls were able to cut the lead down to six after a DeMar DeRozan jumper along the baseline that made it a 96-90 game. But in what was a perfect microcosm for the game as a whole, Orlando then went on a 12-1 run to pull away yet again and make it a 17-point game at the three-minute marl.
Outside of the slow start, what really cost the Bulls in this one was turnovers. They did just an awful job taking care of the basketball. They turned the ball over a whopping 13 times in the first have alone. They finished the game with 21 turnovers to Orlando’s 11.
If we’re going to take a positive from tonight, it was Javonte Green for the second game in a row. Green was outstanding off the bench Friday against the Knicks with a double-double dropping 25 points and grabbing 13 boards. His effort in that one combined with Alex Caruso sitting tonight’s game out with an ankle injury led to Green getting the start.
So Green went from signing a 10-day contract less than a month ago to entering the starting lineup tonight. It’s a very cool story and I’m really happy for Javonte, but at the same time, it says something about the lack of depth on this roster.
This game also cemented the season sweep for the Magic over Chicago. It’s wild to think that just over three years ago the Bulls added Nikola Vucevic from Orlando which signaled the Bulls being buyers and the Magic starting a rebuild, and now this year’s Magic team will accomplish more than the Bulls ever did post-Vuc trade. It’s a credit to a great job by Orlando’s front office, but also another glaring sign of how stuck in the mud the Bulls are.
All in all, just yet another annoying night in a long season full of them with this team. With their record dropping to 37-41, the Bulls can officially finish this season no better than .500, so that’s another fun fact from tonight too. Four games left before the Play-In, two games with the Knicks with matchups against the Pistons and Wizards in between.
Check out the full box score here
