Bulls top Pelicans despite Caruso's injury |
CHICAGO - Don't look now, but perhaps losing
Zach Lavine for the next several games is the blessing in disguise that this Chicago Bulls (7-14) team needed. After missing Thursday's game with a foot injury, Lavine was ruled out for the next week as he continues to deal with foot soreness.
Typically, that would be bad news when facing off against a very good New Orleans Pelicans (11-10) team, but with Demar DeRozan returning from his ankle injury, the Bulls were nearly at 100%. In front of another big crowd at the United Center, the Bulls got off to another strong start before falling behind by eight at the half, courtesy of the massive second quarter from the Pelicans. To make matters worse, Caruso saw his nagging toe injury flare back up as he left the game and didn't return. No one would have blamed the Bulls had they packed it in and taken their bumps in what has been a challenging season thus far. Instead, the Bulls continued to play much more heart than they have at any point this season, outscoring the Pelicans 36-21 in the third and using that to pick up the 124-118 win over the Pelicans for their second straight victory. As weird as this may be, the Bulls are a better team without LaVine, and they have shown in their past two games that they have recorded two wins over two good teams. With Lavine out, the Bulls move the ball around much better and get more people involved on offense. That alone should make trading him that much easier, but with little to no market, the Bulls will be placed in a tough spot when figuring out what to do with him as the season goes on. When you look at the Bulls current roster and its overall building blocks, Coby White will be a massive part of their future and is proving it every game. After signing a three-year, 42 million-dollar contract this offseason, White returned to the Bulls at a discounted rate and won the starting PG job in camp. Since then, he has not only proven he can play the PG but can be one of the best, if not the best, scoring option the Bulls have, as he led all scorers with 31 points in the win. He connected on 10-17 shots, with eight coming from behind the arc as Chicago went 17-40 from distance. Compare that to just 8-25 from the Pelicans; the outside shot was one of the main reasons the Bulls won this game. Back in the lineup after missing one game with an ankle injury was DeRozan, who returned with a bang to drop 24 points and gave White a very good secondary option. Considering Lavine was missing and Nikola Vucevic was held to just six points, those two needed to step up, but it would be up to others to shoulder some of the additional load. Leave that to the Bulls bench, where Torrey Craig and Ayo Dosunmu came up huge. Starting to get more minutes as of late, Dosunmu is starting to prove his worth and is once again looking like someone the Bulls could lean on long-term. His 15 points were the second-highest point total of the season while also playing outstanding defense. On the other hand, Craig finally put together the game the Bulls have been waiting for as he connected for three triples en route to a season-high 15 points. When you talk about building blocks, Patrick Williams is another name that comes to mind, but given his inconsistencies and struggles, he is much more of an unknown. Well, suddenly, Williams is starting to play consistently and is looking like the player the Bulls hoped he would be as he scored double figures for the fourth straight game with 14 points as the Bulls' offense continued to click. One of the more surprising teams last season was the Pelicans, and now that they are healthy again, they are viewed as one of the sleeper teams out West. Sure, they haven't gotten off to a great start, but they are very dangerous, led by a pair of young stars, Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram. Say what you want about Williamson and his NBA career thus far. Yes, he is injury-prone and has missed more games than he has played, but when he is healthy, he is a dominating force capable of changing a game. His 27 points led the way for New Orleans, and his 66% shooting shows just how good he can be. Ingram may not have had one of his typical games, but with 23 points, he gave the Pelicans a great 1-2 punch, which is something they have done a lot of this season. Those two may be this team's focal points and building blocks, but the veteran CJ McCullom is the key to the offense as he holds everything together. Fortunately for the Bulls, he was unavailable for this game as Chicago dodged a big bullet with his absence. Picking up his slack in the starting lineup was Herbert Jones and his 17 points, joined by Jonas Valanciunas and his 15 points. Valanciunas also hauled in 10 rebounds as he continues to be a double-double machine for the Pelicans. Rounding out the double-figure scorers for the Pelicans was Jordan Hawkins with 10 points off the bench, but it wouldn't be enough. The Bulls will now get a few days off before facing off with Charlotte and San Antonio, as those games were added to the schedule after failing to qualify for the In Season Tournament Knockout round. Chicago still has work to do, but with wins in those two games, things will look better as they have reached the quarter mark for the season.
While the Bulls have looked much better the past two games, Windy City hasn't, as you could make the case. Their past two games have been their worst showings of the season. Saturday may have been the worst of them all as they not only let Grand Rapids grab their first win of the season but also did so in dominating fashion, 134-103. Chris Clemmons led the way for Windy City with 22 points, while Quenton Jackson added 17 points and 11 assists in the loss. GRAND RAPIDS ROCK WINDY CITY FOR FIRST WIN
