Bulls come up short against Clippers

Matt Marton - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - 6 hours ago

CHICAGO - Leave it to the Chicago Bulls (23-36) to make a lineup change aimed at tanking, only to look better once the change is made. Coming off a dominating win against the Philadelphia Sixers on Monday, the Bulls returned home to the United Center and welcomed in the Los Angeles Clippers (32-26).

On a night when Nikola Vucevic was once again out of the lineup dealing with a calf issue, the Bulls continued to trot out a different-looking lineup. They are at the point of their season where they should be focusing on the draft more than the playoffs. The only problem is that the teams trailing the Bulls are much worse than the Bulls, so even tanking will be a tall order to close out the season.

Despite the Clippers being one of the better defensive teams in the game, it was the Bulls who not only battled them from start to finish but nearly came away with a massive upset, as the Clippers held them off in the end 122-117. This game was ultimately decided in two quarters, as the Clippers outscored the Bulls by 11 in the first and third quarters while being outscored by six the rest of the way.

That is the definition of a fast start, as the Clippers got off to a quick start to open both the first and second half. Even with the loss, the play of the new Bulls continued to stand out, as all three are starting to carve a name for themselves as possible future pieces. Zach Collins is especially starting to prove his worth, as he was making his second consecutive start in place of Vucevic.

One night after dropping 19 points, Collins upped the ante by scoring 21 points to lead the Bulls in scoring. Collins also did his best Vucevic impression by grabbing 17 rebounds and dishing out seven assists as he was a one-man wrecking crew. Collins wasn't alone in having a big game, with Josh Giddey continuing his strong run of play with another 21-point effort.

Like Collins, scoring wasn't the only thing that Giddey did well as he dished out 12 assists and pulled down eight rebounds for another near triple-double. His well-rounded play over the past few weeks has been a nice boost for this team, and it will almost certainly get him paid this offseason. Those were just two of the six players to record double-figure points, with four coming into the starting lineup.

After coming off the bench on Monday, Coby White was back in the starting lineup and added 19 points for the Bulls. You also had Lonzo Ball come up clutch with 15 points as he continues to prove he is as close to being 100% as you can. Not only did the Bulls starting five have a great night, but so did newcomers Tre Jones and Kevin Huerter, who came up firing off the bench.

Jones had his best game since joining the Bulls, adding 16 points on 7-9 shooting, while Huerter added 13 points in a balanced attack. Those two combined for five of the Bulls' 19 made triples, as the three-point shot is starting to become a massive part of the Bulls' game after being absent for a few weeks.

Even with the Bulls' firepower to win this game, it just wasn't enough, as the Clippers answered with plenty of firepower of their own. James Harden had the best game of anyone, dropping a game-high 30 points on seven made triples. The Clippers matched the Bulls with 19 triples of their own but shot at better than a 50% clip.

Like the Bulls, Harden was backed by a quarter of double-digit scorers, but none of them were able to match the production of Harden as Kawhi Leonard added 17 points and eight boards. You also had former Bull Derrick Jones Jr come up huge with 16 points, while the big man Ivica Zubac added 10 points and 10 rebounds.

From a starter perspective, the Bulls starters scored more points than the Clippers starters, as this would come down to which bench could play better. The problem was that both benches played outstanding, and when that happens, it becomes a matter of who has the better showing off the bench.

That is where Amir Coffey comes into play as he led all bench scorers with 20 points on 7-11 shooting. The Clippers also benefitted from Bogdan Bogdanovic adding 14 points off four made triples as the Clippers hung on for the 122-117 win.