The Chicago Bulls rebounded from a crushing residence loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday with a crew effort Thursday in a 114-98 win over the Charlotte Hornets.
Six gamers scored in double figures, together with Ayo Dosunmu’s 22-point evening on 9-of-10 taking pictures, and Coby White added 20 factors. The Bulls will want extra video games with everybody contributing, particularly if Alex Caruso misses time after spraining his proper foot.
“We have a very deep team, and at this point in the season we’re going to need everyone to come out and play on both ends,” Dosunmu mentioned.
Some Bulls gamers have been miffed that Dosunmu wasn’t chosen to the Rising Stars Game on All-Star Weekend after being picked final yr as a rookie.
“We all know what he can do, what he has been doing the entire season,” ahead Patrick Williams mentioned. “I’m always in his corner, and he’s always in mine, just being the young guys on the team.”
Dosunmu’s offensive numbers are on par with final yr’s, when the second-round decide stunned many along with his emergence to a beginning position. But this yr, he’s been extra inconsistent on a nightly foundation, identical to the crew itself. Thursday was Dosunmu’s first recreation of 20-plus factors since scoring 22 on Oct. 24 in opposition to the Boston Celtics.
Perhaps the snub may push Dosunmu. His aggressive play helped make up for off nights from DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine, who mixed for 12 and 9 turnovers, respectively, in opposition to the Clippers and Hornets.
Here are three takeaways from this week’s homestand, which continues Saturday in opposition to the Portland Trail Blazers.
1. Every NBA crew complains about calls that don’t go their manner.
TNT studio analyst Charles Barkley on Thursday poked enjoyable at media outrage over an apparent missed foul on Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James on a possible profitable play throughout a nationally televised recreation in opposition to the Celtics. Barkley made reference to the “idiots, fools and jackasses on TV complaining” concerning the name.
The Bulls don’t get the identical sort of media consideration as James, who made a scene when he didn’t get the decision. But DeRozan was furious after Tuesday’s loss when he thought he was fouled by the Clippers’ Reggie Jackson on a drive for the potential go-ahead basket with 38 seconds left.
“It doesn’t make any sense to me,” DeRozan mentioned afterward. “Try to be aggressive, try to get downhill, and clearly it was a foul. It just sucks that you wake up and read the Last Two Minutes Report and something else will be missed that possibly could have cost us the game. That’s the more frustrating part.”
DeRozan was vindicated the subsequent day within the Two Minute Report that addresses missed calls, which said Jackson made contact with the Bulls star’s left arm and may have led to a pair of free throws.
Critical calls that have been missed have occurred to the Bulls a number of instances in essential conditions, however coach Billy Donovan mentioned it does no good to complain.
“We just don’t have any control over it,” Donovan mentioned. “I don’t know the place we rank by way of different groups, however we’ve clearly had some troublesome calls. I do know we’re not the one crew. It is what it’s, so to talk.
“I think you’ve got to focus on things that we could’ve done better in that stretch, the last two minutes, the last five minutes, (and) really the whole entire game.”
Veteran Bulls author Sam Smith facetiously requested if Bulls gamers falling to the court docket “in anguish like LeBron James” would assist. But Donovan wouldn’t chew, saying officers have a tough job and aren’t attempting to make errors. The Bulls coach then identified that “we’ve had quite a few of those situations late (in losses).”
Asked if the Last Two Minute Reports are good for the sport, Donovan mentioned it is smart to point out the “integrity” of NBA officers.
“When something happens late in the game and people talk about it (and say), ‘Well, he got the call because of who he is,’ or ‘He didn’t get the call because of who he is,’ or “This official this, or this official (that),” Donovan mentioned. “I think it eliminates that stuff, where there’s more of an accountability.”
2. Andre Drummond got here up huge in Thursday’s win.
The Bulls middle had 15 factors and 11 rebounds in 14 minutes, 44 seconds. According to the Bulls, Drummond is one among eight gamers in NBA historical past with a minimum of two double-doubles in solely quarter-hour of enjoying time, and occurred with the Bulls.
That begs the query of why Drummond has disappeared from Donovan’s rotations.
Drummond is averaging lower than 13 minutes per recreation, and over the earlier 9 video games averaged 5.2 minutes in 4 video games, with 5 video games by which he didn’t get off the bench.
“Being a good teammate at the end of the day, when my number is called I’m prepared and ready to play,” Drummond mentioned. “I’m just happy with the win.”
Drummond knew he’d again up Nikola Vučević when he signed a two-year, $6.56 million deal final summer time, however he didn’t come to Chicago to sit down on the bench.
“I’m never OK with it,” Drummond mentioned. “At the end of the day I’m a basketball player. I want to play. But the circumstances I’m in, I have to work my way back to where I want to get to, so there are certain routes I have to take to get there.”
Has he considered speaking to Donovan about what he has to do to show he deserves extra enjoying time?
“I don’t have to,” Drummond mentioned. “I think I’ve done that throughout my career. That’s the position I’m in right now, and I’m a professional at the end of the day.”
Drummond has no real interest in asking for a commerce, saying: “I like it here.” But if Vučević is dealt earlier than the Feb. 9 commerce deadline, Drummond could get these minutes by default.
3. Patrick Williams left Thursday’s recreation within the fourth quarter after rolling his proper ankle.
Donovan had no replace afterward, and although Williams admitted it was swollen, he didn’t really feel just like the ankle could be a serious concern.
Williams additionally rolled his proper ankle in mid-November throughout a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.
“Looking at the bright side, it’s good to have something you can bounce back quick from,” he mentioned, pointing to the damaged left wrist that sidelined him for all however 17 video games in 2021-22. “Last year I couldn’t do anything because I was in a cast.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com