White's career night leads to massive comeback victory over Kings |
SACRAMENTO - Since returning from the all-star break, the Chicago Bulls (29-32) have been what the kids would say are MID. They have basically been a .500 team to slightly below .500 since the break as they continue to battle for one of the final two playoff spots. Looking at their upcoming schedule, things will not get any easier for this team, and their current stretch of games could make or break their playoff chances.
That all starts with a four-game West Coast trip, which began against the Sacramento Kings (34-26) on Monday. What could go down as the most challenging portion of their schedule the rest of the way, the Bulls did themselves no favors as they found themselves down by 22 points at one point in the ball game. Cue the Demar DeRozan and Coby White duo as those two spearheaded what would be a massive comeback as the Bulls picked up the 113-109 victory. It was the fourth time this season that the Bulls recorded a victory after trailing by more than 20 points, and no other team in the league has more than two such victories. In other words, as frustrating as this team is most of the time, they never quit, and they go out and show you that they can pick up tough wins against some of the better teams in the league. Chicago got off to a good start in the first quarter as Nikola Vucevic and company came out strong to keep things close early. That was until the offense went cold and saw the Kings lead 34-22 after one. Once the second quarter got underway, White started to take things over as it was one of those nights for the Guard. He helped Chicago pull within five at the break only to be down by 14 heading into the fourth. It was at that time that White and DeRozan put the team on their backs, helping the Bulls outscore the Kings 36-18 in the final quarter to pick up the come-from-behind victory. White is credited with the winning bucket, as he drove at Harrison Barnes and picked up the tough bucket. For White, Sacramento is a team he wishes he could see more often, as his previous career-high 36 points came against the Kings earlier this season. We said previously because White broke out of a lengthy shooting slump by going 14-19 from the field and finished with 37 points to lead all scorers in what was a new career high for him. DeRozan and his 33 points backed him, but it was a tale of two halves for the savvy veteran. After struggling to put the ball in the hole throughout the first half, DeRozan responded with 28 second-half points and joined forces with White to lead the comeback. This is the type of game the Bulls have been waiting on from DeRozan for a while, and after his showing, this could be a sign of things to come. Heading into next season, the Bulls will have a lot of questions to answer, and one of those questions will surround Zach Lavine and whether to keep him around. It's no secret that this team has played better without him, but you have also seen certain players come up huge in his absence. Ayo Dosunmu has especially risen to the occasion, and his recent stretch of play has the fans wondering if he and White are the backcourt of the future. Dosunmu didn't have as good of a game as White and DeRozan, but he still had a terrific showing on the floor by adding 20 points. That makes 90 points from those three guys, as the Bulls only had 23 points from the rest of their roster. Ten of those points came from Vucevic, who went cold after a hot start to the game but still came away with 13 points for another double-double. Rounding out the scoring for the Bulls was Julian Phillips, who led the bench with six points, while Andre Drummond (4 points), Alex Caruso (2 points), and Onurlap Bitim (1 point) all got into the scoring column. Unlike the Bulls, who relied heavily on three players, the Kings had much more balance, as all five starters and six total players scored double figures. Typically, that would be enough production to win most games, but when your leading player scores 20 points, the balance is good, but the production wasn't where it needed to be. Coming off one of his best games against the Bulls last time out, Chicago made it a point to make things difficult for Deaaron Fox, holding him to 20 points. He did shoot the ball at a 50% clip and added 10 assists, but the Bulls limited his overall production on the floor, which was huge. As expected, Domantas Sabonis came through with another massive game, which has been the norm against the Bulls. Going back to his days with the Pacers, Sabonis has played some of his best basketball against this team, and with 18 points and 21 rebounds, that trend continued. Apart from those two, the rest of the double-digit scorers were very efficient as they tried to hold off the Bulls late. Kevin Huerter was effective shooting the ball but only had 12 points. Keegan Murray chipped in with 11 points, as did Milik Monk, who led the bench with 11 points, but he did that on a rough 4-12 shooting performance. Barnes rounded out the double-digit scoring for the Kings, finishing with 10 points in the losing effort. The Bulls will continue their West Coast journey on Wednesday when they face the Utah Jazz.
