Buzelis steals the show as Bulls top Nets |
CHICAGO - It's hard enough for the Chicago Bulls (9-13) to pick up wins right now, but when they are down one of their best players, Coby White, wins become that much tougher. After being downgraded to out with an ankle sprain ahead of Monday's contest with the Brooklyn Nets (9-13) at the United Center, the Bulls were not only down one starter but two.
Fortunately for them, the Nets are also short-handed, so this became a matchup of who has more depth. With White out of the lineup, Julian Phillips made his first start of the season, and others saw an increase in minutes. All that came in handy as the Bulls took care of the Nets 128-102. After a first quarter that saw things tied up 29-29, the Bulls turned up the heat the rest of the way, leading by six entering the break. Then came the third quarter, when the Bulls not only came out firing with 36 points but also played one of their better defensive quarters of the season to open up a 20-point lead. One of the many reasons for the Bulls' strong performance was seeing Matas Buzelis put together the best game of his young career, as he was one of the players seeing an increase in minutes. Taken in the first round of this year's draft, Buzelis has gradually seen an increase in minutes as Billy Donovan has started to trust him more and more. After dropping a career-high 20 points in 22 minutes off the bench, Buzelis has more than earned more minutes and has played himself into more of a rotational role. With Patrick Williams still out and struggling when in the lineup, could he start losing minutes in favor of Buzelis? Buzelis wasn't the only one putting together a great game; it was more of the same for the big man Nikola Vucevic. Off to what has been by far the best start of his Chicago Bulls career, Vucevic was business as usual, leading the Bulls with 21 points and pulling down 11 boards. Then came Josh Giddey's performance, who also had his best game of the season. Despite struggling to score the ball in recent games, Giddey has contributed in several other cases, but this is one of those games where everything came together. He finished the game with 20 points, pulling down 13 rebounds and dishing out 11 assists for his first triple-double of the season. Mix that with 18 points from Zach Lavine, and the Bulls' offense was alive and well, as balanced scoring was the theme of the night for Chicago. Talen Horton-Tucker made it six players in double figures for Chicago as he added 11 points off the bench for another big game, with Jalen Smith picking up eight. Phillips put up five points in his first start of the season, but continues to play exceptionally well on the defensive end. Like the Bulls, Brooklyn was missing several key pieces, which instantly put them at a massive disadvantage. The difference is that the Bulls found ways to step up as a team while the Nets struggled to get the scoring going across the board. In fact, no one on the team scored 20 points, as the sharp-shooting Dariq Whitehead connected for six triples off the bench to lead the way for Brooklyn with 18 points. He was one of six players to also score in double figures, but it will be hard to win when no one scores more than 18 points. Dennis Schroder led the Brooklyn starters with 16 points while dishing out 10 assists for a strong double-double. Tyrese Martin added 15 points, and Nik Claxton added 11 points, making the big three for the Nets starters. As is the case when many teams are short-handed, bench players seem to see an uptick in minutes, which can be good in the long run. Having Shake Milton add 14 points and Trendon Watford pick up 12, Brooklyn had plenty of production, but more was needed to get the job done against a hungry Bulls team.
MAD ANTS HOLD OFF THE BULLS
In what was the second game of a two-game road trip in Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Mad Ants (3-7) withstood a potential game-tying three from DJ Stewart as they held off the Windy City Bulls (3-7) 112-109. The Chicago area native has been impressive in his first season with the Bulls, leading the way with 28 points and dishing out seven assists.
He has been the steady force offensively for the Bulls, who have seen some struggles from key players such as Adama Sanogo. However, with Marcus Domask (16 points) and David Muoka (17 points) picking up the slack, the Bulls were in this one from start to finish, but didn't have enough to put the game away.
Kyle Mangas led the way for the Mad Ants, dropping 23 points on Windy City. He was one of three 20-point scorers as he was joined by Obadiah Noel (22 points) and Dakota Mathias (20 points as those three gave the Bulls fits. Fellow Chicago Native Jahlil Okafor continued to make his presence felt on the court with 13 points and 13 rebounds as he continued to work toward an NBA return.
