Bulls dominated in second half by Suns in road loss |
CHICAGO - It pains me to say this, but it is time to face reality if you are a fan of the Chicago Bulls (29-35). The reality is that this team is not a very good basketball team as they continue to struggle and are on the outside looking in for a playoff spot.
The good news, the Bulls still have about a month to figure things out as the Eastern Conference remains wide open from the fifth seed on down. However, do you want the Bulls to make the playoffs and get bounced immediately? Should they make the playoffs, remember that their first-round pick goes to the Orlando Magic as part of the Vucevic deal. Normally I wouldn't condone tanking, but at this point, the Bulls should lose as many games as possible to help put them in a position to get a top-four pick. If that happens, the Bulls keep that pick, and it would be huge for an organization that appears to be stuck in neutral at the moment. Facing off against a strong Phoenix Suns (35-29) squad starting to play their best ball, it was an ugly second half by the Bulls that did them in as the Suns picked up the 125-104 road win. Ever since acquiring Kevin Durant, the Suns have started to play better ball and are starting to look like a team that was the top seed in the West a year ago. That continued throughout the first quarter as the Suns raced out to a 40-29 lead. In the second quarter, the Bulls gave the Suns a taste of their own medicine as they allowed a total of 20 points while the offense scored 35 to put Chicago in front 64-60 at the half. Then came the second half, where the Suns scored 65 points and put up at least 31 in back-to-back quarters. Throw that in with a suffocating defense throughout the second half, and the Bulls stood no chance of coming away with a win. For the first time in a while, the Bulls defense was torched, and that has been their strong suit this season. Devin Booker looked like playoff Booker as he led all scorers with 35 points and knocked down six triples. Booker had plenty of help, with Josh Okogie picking up 25 points and Durant adding 20 in his second game with the team. Durant added nine rebounds and six assists as he did a little bit of everything. Looking at the direction these teams are trending, and it shouldn't be surprising to see the Suns win this game. What did come as a surprise was how well the Bulls played against Chris Paul and DeAndre Ayton. That duo scored 18 points, with seven coming from Ayton and 11 from Paul. Even with those performances, the Suns still scored 125 points which is scary to think about. Like the Suns, the Bulls had to rely on their horses to get the job done, and they did as DeMar DeRozan, and Zach Lavine combined to score 58 points. That is more than 50% of the team's overall total, as DeRozan led the way with 31 points, with Lavine adding 27. Lavine wasn't as efficient as he would like to be, but he continues to play well. After a long stretch of double-doubles, Nikola Vucevic has cooled off a bit and has one double-double in his last five games. That includes three straight games without one, as he outplayed Ayton, but still only scored 13 points. Vucevic collected seven rebounds as the Bulls needed more production from their man in the middle. Take those three out of the equation, and the offense was tough to come by for Chicago, especially in the second half when the Suns defense held them to 40 points. Patrick Williams was inserted back into the starting lineup and picked up nine points, with Ayo Dosunmu leading the bench with eight. Patrick Beverley took just two shots in the game and knocked down one, but Chicago will need more out of him moving forward. Chicago will look to close out this week with a win as they take on the Indiana Pacers at the United Center on Sunday. On a side note, the Bulls had a roster spot open after releasing Goran Dragic and chose to fill that spot from within by adding Carlik Jones. Already on a two-way deal, the Bulls turned that into a fully-guaranteed contract for the remainder of the season, as Jones will get some time on an NBA roster.
Jones is coming off G-League player of the month honors in February and has been among the best players all season. In his 16 games since the regular season started, Jones leads the team with 26.1 PPG and is averaging 7.4 APG. He is shooting just under 50% from the floor and 36 % from deep as he hopes to give the Bulls a jolt off the bench.
