Bulls lose high-scoring affair to Jazz |
CHICAGO - There is no such thing as an easy win in today's NBA, but there are certain games where you can point to and say you need to win these games. That is what the Chicago Bulls (3-4) were up against on Monday as they welcomed the Utah Jazz (1-6) to the United Center. Heading into this game, the Jazz not only had the worst offense in the league (99 PPG) but also the worst three-point shooting team (28%) in the NBA, and it was by a wide margin.
Then came the game, and you never would've guessed that the Jazz were winless. They connected on a season-high 16 triples, shooting 45% from distance while also putting up a season-high 135 points against a woeful Bulls defense. That alone was more than enough for the Jazz to pick up their first win of the season, as they took down the Bulls 135-126. Injuries have played a massive role in the Bulls' successes and failures the past few seasons, and the injury bug has already taken its toll on this team. Not only has Lonzo Ball been out the past week with a wrist injury, but several other Bulls have been listed as game-time decisions with various injuries, including Zach Lavine, who was announced out prior to the game on Monday. Had he been in the lineup, there is a good chance the Bulls would have won this game. However, with him out of the lineup, Ayo Dosunmu slid into the starting spot and put up his best showing of the season,but it still wasn't enough. For whatever reason, the Bulls not only start slow, but they need to fall behind by double digits before starting to play up to their potential. Even though it wasn't a 20-point deficit in this one, the Bulls still fell behind by 15 at one point in the first half as the offense went through another one of their lifeless stretches. Then came the second half, in particular the third quarter, when the Bulls went as they scored 40 points in the third to pull within two. Coby White played a massive role in that as he scored 20 of his team-high 28 points in that quarter, while the Bulls had all of the momentum heading into the fourth. It was in the final 12 minutes when things went south for the Bulls. They not only started to get sloppy, but the Jazz started to catch fire. It was their time to connect for a 40-point quarter, and they took what was a close game and flipped it to a comfortable victory. Even with Lavine out of the lineup, the Bulls did more than enough on offense to win this game, as all five starters finished in double figures, with three players topping 20. White led the way with 28, but Dosunmu continued to show what he can do when you give him more minutes on the court. Filling in for Lavine, Dosunmu provided similar production with his 25 points, but did it on a very impressive 9-13 shooting performance from the field as he continues to impress. The same can be said about Nikola Vucevic who continues to go about his business with 23 points and bringing in 10 more rebounds to pick up another double-double. Coming off his worst showing of the season, Josh Giddey got back to doing what he does best by picking up 15 points and dishing out seven assists. You also had a rare good game from Patrick Williams, who finally started to play with the aggressive nature Chicago has been hoping for as he rounded out the starting lineup with 13. Any time your starting five gives you more than 100 points, you love your chances, but you still need some production from the bench, which the Bulls haven't had much this season. Talen Horton-Tucker had an excellent game with his 10 points, as he was responsible for nearly half of their bench points. Jalen Smith (8 points) and Dalen Terry (4 points) rounded out the scoring in what was another quiet night for the second unit. Like the Bulls, Utah had plenty of production across the board, with three players picking up more than 20 points. One of those was Rookie Keyonte George, who had his breakout game in the NBA with 33 points while also picking up nine rebounds. George also had moments in the second half when he completely took over, as Chicago had no answers for him. Collin Sexton's 24 points gave George a nice compliment in the starting lineup, as did Walker Kessler, who added 12 points and 16 rebounds. The Utah starting five did their best to keep up with Chicago's starting five. The biggest reason the Jazz managed to win this game wasn't the offense or improved shooting but a bench that scored nearly 50 points. 28 of those points came from John Collins, who continued to dominate the Bulls whether he came in off the bench or as a starter. Collins added 13 rebounds, was responsible for more than half of the Utah bench points, and single-handedly outscored the Bulls' entire second unit. It's hard to win games when one player can outscore your entire bench, and the Bulls are finding out the hard way that they need more production from their second unit.
