SAN FRANCISCO — If Thursday evening was an audition for Nikola Vučević, the Chicago Bulls middle may not have earned a callback.
Solely days after being linked to a possible commerce with Golden State, Vučević had a lot to play for in opposition to the Warriors. By no means one to draw back from social media chatter, Vučević was fast to crack jokes in regards to the rumors earlier than the sport.
Vučević gave the impression to be nailing his tryout within the opening minutes of the sport. He rattled off seven fast factors after making his first three baskets because the Bulls picked aside the Warriors protection to surge to a 14-point lead. Vučević showcased the need for a stretch middle as he tucked into the Warriors protection by slipping and rolling off screens on the best way to these early baskets.
However the sport rapidly modified for Vučević. The Warriors introduced fast traps to power him into three turnovers, assembly Vučević with additional our bodies on the rim. They usually ran the him ragged on the opposite finish of the courtroom, forcing him to scramble to the perimeter as Quinten Publish rained 3s.
Vučević completed with solely 9 factors — tied for his fewest this season — six rebounds and 4 steals.
The remainder of the roster mirrored Vučević because the Bulls failed to keep up their early scoring tempo. After main by one on the half, they had been crushed on the 3-point arc within the third quarter, going 0-for-9 from deep whereas the Warriors racked up six 3-pointers to take a 14-point lead into the fourth. The Bulls had been outscored 31-16 within the third quarter and couldn’t get better in a 131-106 defeat, their sixth in seven video games.
Listed here are 4 takeaways from the loss.
1. A bench letdown
The Bulls bench has suffered closely throughout a latest wave of accidents — together with guards Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu — which have pressured typical rotational gamers into the beginning group. On Thursday, that meant one other begin for Lonzo Ball as White was sidelined for a second consecutive sport with a proper ankle harm.
The Bulls had little creativity left on the bench — and it confirmed. Bulls reserves scored solely 25 factors by way of the primary three quarters and 41 total. The Warriors, in the meantime, racked up 83 bench factors as they acquired main boosts from Publish (20 factors) and Gui Santos (19).
2. Steph’s nonetheless acquired it.
Steph Curry was listed as questionable for injury-management functions heading into the sport — however as soon as he was on the courtroom, there was no questioning the guard’s effectiveness on offense.
Solely hours after being named to his eleventh All-Star Recreation, Curry dropped 21 factors — together with 5 3-pointers — in half-hour, 47 seconds to steer the Warriors. Dosunmu spent most of his evening chasing Curry across the perimeter, weaving his approach by way of a tumult of screens in his try to sluggish Curry down.
3. Zach LaVine handed the ten,000-point threshold.
Within the ultimate minute of the primary half, LaVine reached one other milestone in his Bulls profession. The guard splashed a 3-pointer from the left aspect of the arc for his fifth basket of the evening, marking his 10,000th level of his eight-year tenure in Chicago.
LaVine, who led the Bulls with 24 factors, is the sixth participant within the franchise historical past to attain no less than 10,000 factors for the membership, becoming a member of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Bob Love, Luol Deng and Jerry Sloan.
4. Unsure harm timeline for Coby White.
The highway to restoration grew to become a bit extra difficult for guard White, who underwent imaging on his proper ankle Tuesday in Los Angeles after lacking Monday’s win in opposition to the Clippers.
White suffered a bone bruise on his ankle after “jamming” his leg on a clumsy touchdown in Sunday’s loss to the Portland Path Blazers, per Billy Donovan. The workforce initially anticipated the harm to be brief time period. White didn’t report any twisting and didn’t present indicators of a sprain or different critical harm. The workforce left him as questionable main into Thursday’s sport with optimism that he might be accessible once more this weekend.
The prognosis threw that return timeline into query. Donovan mentioned White might be out for every week or longer relying on how rapidly ache recedes. The guard has not been capable of bear any basketball actions since Sunday’s sport in Portland.
