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Presented by Nationwide Insurance Agent Jeff Vukovich
The Chicago Bulls rallied from a 12-point third-quarter deficit to claim a 114-106 road victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Here are 10 observations:
—The Bulls increased their league-leading number of clutch minutes played and improved to 18-14 in those games, defined by being within five points with 5 minutes or less left. They made multiple clutch plays late, including excellent defense by Alex Caruso on Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram and DeMar DeRozan hitting a huge 3-pointer with 30.7 seconds left for a five-point lead. DeRozan finished with 24 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
—The shorthanded Bulls got a reprieve when the Pelicans became shorthanded thanks to league suspensions for Naji Marshall and José Alvarado and an ankle injury for CJ McCollum. Dyson Daniels missed his sixth straight game.
—Still, the Bulls’ absences at power forward are huge, and with Patrick Williams out for the season, they will be for a while until Torrey Craig can return from his knee injury. Caruso joked about how he has gotten used to playing power forward the past two seasons. But his initial assignment was no joke: Williamson.
—In a nod to Williamson’s unique combination of speed and strength, Terry Taylor was the sixth man. This marked Taylor’s first minutes without a cleanup since Jan. 31 in Charlotte. Williamson finished with 19 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, but the Bulls limited him down the stretch.
—Ayo Dosunmu came out firing with 14 points in the first quarter, repeatedly outscoring the Pelicans in transition and making his first five shots. Dosunmu also extended his career streak with at least two 3-pointers to six games. He finished with 21 points, eight assists and three 3-pointers. It’s the second straight game in which Dosunmu has recorded a season-high eight assists.
—Billy Donovan burned a timeout just 66 seconds into the second half, which the Pelicans opened by easily scoring on two possessions. Donovan has two long-standing coaching habits: taking quick timeouts when his teams don’t follow the game plan points reiterated at halftime and also taking timeouts between opposing players’ free throws.
—Donovan dropped the two-way lineup of Nikola Vucevic and Andre Drummond for the first time in several games. He had hinted at that with his pregame comments, in which he said the five-man unit that included those two players did not fare well in Thursday’s loss to Boston. Both players played well separately. Drummond saved his biggest plays of the fourth quarter and finished with seven points and eight rebounds in 14 minutes. Vucevic because 33third player in NBA history to record 500 double-doubles, finishing with 22 points and 13 rebounds.
—Coby White hit a 29-foot 3-pointer on the game’s first possession just 15 seconds into the game, but then missed nine in a row before scoring his next field goal. Still, White finished with 16 points and seven rebounds and recovered from a sprained ankle to hit a big 3-pointer at the end of a DeRozan drive-and-dish. DeRozan twice shoved and kicked White for late shots even though White was 5 of 18, a further evolution in White’s role late in the game.
—The Bulls recorded 29 assists, scored 15 second-chance points and made 19 of 21 free throws. Playing shorthanded and without the three-point shooting of Zach LaVine, Williams and Torrey Craig, the Bulls must use ball movement and easy points from second-chance opportunities or free throws to thrive offensively.
—Speaking of shooting, the Bulls signed Andrew Funk to a two-way contract on Sunday morning. The 6-foot-5 guard shot over 40 percent for the Denver Nuggets’ G League affiliate.
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