Stewart's heroics lead Bulls past Hawks in OT |
LAS VEGAS — No one wants to get overly excited about Summer League Basketball, as none of these games count for anything. However, Friday night's contest between the Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls was about as exciting as it gets. This could go down as one of the best games of the entire summer thus far.
Despite the Bulls playing one of their best halves of basketball this season and racing out to a massive 16-point halftime lead, it was the second half that did Chicago in. After dropping 58 first-half points and leading 58-42 at the break, the Bulls offense went quiet in the second half and was held to just 38 second-half points. Credit the Hawks defense for stepping up defensively and doing a better job of keeping the Bulls out of sync, but Chicago wasn't knocking down their shots either. That together saw the Hawks outscore the Bulls 54-38 in the second half, as four quarters of basketball wouldn't be enough to decide this one. Looking to avoid a catastrophic meltdown late, the Bulls had their own tricks up their sleeve, and it came from 2021 undrafted free agent DJ Stewart, who put on a show. One of the more consistent players on the Bulls so far this summer, Stewart called his shot late and knocked down a game-winning basket to lift the Bulls to the 103-99 OT win. Apart from Adama Sanogo and Matas Buzelis, Stewart has been the most consistent player on this Bulls roster and is doing his part to try to land on their Windy City roster once the season breaks. Not only did he have a game-winner, but he picked a great time to put together one of the better performances this summer. He led all scorers with 37 points and also added seven assists. With Buzelis struggling from the field to have his worst game of the summer with 11 points, Stewart picked the perfect time to step up, but he wasn't alone as the Bulls had plenty of players picking up their games in this one. One of those players was second-year man Julian Phillips, who looks to have recovered 100% from his season-ending foot injury. Phillips started to show some potential last season, but with Alex Caruso, Andre Drummond, and Demar DeRozan no longer on this team, look for Phillips to have a bigger role this season. Like Stewart, he put together his best game of the summer, scoring 21 points on an impressive 6-10 shooting, including 4-7 from distance. Rounding out the Bulls' strong performances was Sanogo, who was coming off his worst showing against the Pistons earlier in the week. Although not the typical double-double that fans have become accustomed to, he still finished with 17 points and pulled down nine boards as he continues to prove he deserves more minutes this season. Chicago also saw Andrew Funk drop a summer-high seven points in what was a good day for many players. While Stewart stole the show for the Bulls in this one, a lot of the attention turned to the Atlanta Hawks and their No. 1 overall pick, Zaccharie Risacher. Unfortunately for the fans in attendance, the Hawks decided not to play him in this one, which could've been a reason why they got off to such a slow start. Despite his absence, the Hawks had plenty of moving pieces, including Keaton Wallace, who led the Hawks offense with 22 points and dished out seven assists. Wallace was part of a trio of scorers that accounted for more than half the team's points, which you see often during the summer. Jordan Bowden and Dylan Windler were the other members of that trio, combining for 35 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists. Bowden had the less impressive game, with 18 points and three assists, while Windler added 17 points and seven boards. All three of these guys are expected to compete for one of the final bench spots for the Hawks this season, and if they play like this, all three will be nice additions. Ron Baker II and EJ Lidell, who each scored nine points, and Jarkel Joiner, who added seven points and eight assists, rounded out the Hawks' solid scoring performances. The Bulls will close out their Summer League schedule on Saturday evening when they take on Bronny James and the Lakers.
