Game Recap: Bulls fall to Suns

Joe Camporeale - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - 15 hours ago

PHOENIX - It's hard to believe that despite all the Chicago Bulls (29-40) have gone through this season, they are not only currently still in the playoff picture but are actually sitting at the No. 9 spot. With everyone behind them losing on Wednesday night, the Bulls had an opportunity to continue their late-season rise as they faced off against the Phoenix Suns (33-37) at the PHX Arena.

Like the Bulls, the Suns are one of those teams that has massively underachieved this season. However, unlike Chicago, which is currently in the playoffs, the Suns are not, as they are on the outside looking in. With every game crucial from here on out, the Bulls struggled to slow down the Suns most of the game, as they found themselves down by double digits most of the night.

A big reason for that was a first quarter that saw the Suns not only have an 8-0 but also a 14-2 run as the Bulls were outscored 22-2 during that stretch. Take that run away, and not only were the Bulls able to match the Suns, but they managed to outplay them the rest of the night, which is a credit to the heart this team has.

Despite their best efforts to battle back, the Bulls still found themselves down by 15 points entering the fourth, but it was at that moment when things got interesting. Led by their trio of Josh Giddey, Coby White, and Nikola Vucevic, the Bulls not only started to battle back but managed to get things within double digits late. That was as close as they would get as Devin Booker and Kevin Durant combined to score 67 points to help the Suns hold off the Bulls 127-121.

Any loss this late in the season stings, but the Bulls haven't positioned themselves to survive some of these losses as long as they don't let the bottom fall out. As has been the case for a while now, the reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week was at it again as White continued to battle through some rough three-point shooting to lead the Bulls with 24 points.

The same can be said about Vucevic, although he did look much more like himself in this one. He matched White with a team-high 24 points, knocking down four of the Bulls' 15 triples. After injuring his ankle nearly two weeks ago, Giddey was back in the lineup for the Bulls, but it was an unfamiliar role, as Giddey was set to come off the bench for the first time this season.

Not only that, but this was the first time in his NBA career that he was coming off the bench, which says a lot about his play. Whether this is permanent or temporary until he gets back into shape, Giddey continued to put up solid numbers as he added 22 points to lead the Bulls bench and provided a massive lift for this team. Chicago also saw Kevin Huerter (15 points) and Tre Jones (12 points) continue to put up good numbers in the starting lineup as they have stepped up when called upon the last month.

While all those numbers are good, no one could touch Booker in this one, as he had a monster night. Booker has had a down season compared to some of his years, but with 41 points and seven assists, Booker is still just as explosive as ever and can pick up the points in bunches. Speaking of players who had big games, Kevin Durant is known for having big games against Chicago, and this was no exception.

Not only did Durant come out with the hot hand to lead the Suns with 17 first-half points, but he also managed to give them the secondary scoring option they needed while taking a back seat to Booker and what he was doing. He still finished with 26 points and eight assists while knocking down three triples.

A big reason for the Suns inconsistency as a team is having to deal with their share of injuries, especially to Bradley Beal and Jusef Nurkic, who were once again out of action. With neither of them in the lineup, the Suns knew they would need other options on the offensive end and Nick Richards and Ryan Dunn provided.

Richards was arguably the unsung hero in this game as he added 18 points for the Suns, but did so by doing a little bit of everything on both ends of the floor. The same can be said about Dunn, who not only was in the right place at the right time more often than not, but he also came away with several clutch shots to finish with 16 points as the Bulls had a tough time containing the Suns offense in this one.

With the loss, the Bulls fall to 1-2 on this six-game trip and won't have time to think about this loss as they will take on the Kings in Sacramento on Thursday, for the second leg of a back-to-back.