of chicago bulls A 110-101 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Sunday capped off a pretty tough six-game road swing early in the season.
The Bulls went 2-4 in the aforementioned trip, dropping their season record to 9-14.
Here are 10 observations from the competition.
1. Coming into play with the third-highest offensive rating in the NBA, the Kings don’t sit well with the Bulls team due to their volume and efficiency in shooting 3-pointers. Sacramento ranked seventh in the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage and percentage of points scored from behind the 3-point line, while the Bulls finished last in the league in 3-point shooting percentage all season.
That divide came early on in this one.
The Kings started the game calmly from long range, shooting 4-15 in the first quarter, but still led 29-27 (a bad sign at this point). By halftime, though, he had a 33.3 percent shooting percentage from distance, but made nearly as many of his 3-pointers as his 11 attempted by the Bulls (10).
By the end of the game, the Kings held a meager 12-point advantage from 3-point range, shooting 13-for-43 (30.2%) to the Bulls’ 9-for-25 (36%). But it felt luckier than the product of a consistently sharp perimeter defense, and although the Bulls are shooting 23-6 from midrange (26.1%) to his 6-11 for the Kings, Three-point attempts from his land have been numerous.
2. The Bulls weren’t built to compete with the NBA’s best offenses in jump shooting contests, so they have to make up in other ways. That formula usually involves winning his battles in possession (forcing turnovers while taking care of the ball itself) and free throws his line.
Neither of these factors came to fruition on Sunday. The Bulls forced his 19th turnover against the Kings, but he committed 16 turnovers. Sacramento had 23 points from turnovers and 24 fastbreak points, and he was able to convert those chances well compared to the Bulls, who scored 14 in each of those categories. From the charity stripes, the teams were level with 19 attempts each, with the Bulls his 16 and the Kings his 17.
3. With the Kings winning 33–20 in the second quarter, the game eluded the Bulls, extending their two-point lead to 15 at the end of the first quarter.
The Bulls’ biggest weakness in the last 12 minutes was ball security. After the Bulls recorded just one turnover in the first quarter, he recorded 11 in the second and the Kings scored his 13 points. Most iconic, DeAaron Fox picked up DeMar DeRozan’s pocket on the first play from a timeout and sprinted in the opposite direction for a dunk.
More transition opportunities disrupted the Bulls’ fastbreak defense and allowed Sacramento to roll offensively. They shot 6-for-15 (40%) from his 3-point range in the second quarter and were 14-for-13 at halftime. inside arc.
Four. But, as is often the case with these Bulls, they won 31-20 in the third quarter to cut their 15-point halftime deficit to four and head into the fourth quarter. Zach LaVine scored his 15 points in the period, starting with draining three consecutive his 3-pointers and capping off with some prestigious finishes at the rim. And the Bulls’ defense picked up a few notches in strength, holding Sacramento off his 7-of-23 shooting and forcing five turnovers.
Five. The Bulls cut the deficit to one point early in the fourth inning, but this doesn’t qualify as a “clutch” game because the Bulls didn’t draw within five points in the final five minutes. Like the 2-9 clutch game, this was the last run example.
After Patrick Williams’ and-one sequence made the score 88-87, Sacramento started a 22-10 run, effectively ending the game before the Bulls scored in the final two seconds.
6. In consolation, Zach LaVine had his best all-around performance of the season, scoring 41 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 assists on an efficient 16-28 shooting line from the field. He started the game with two strong takes to the rim — a trend that permeated when he shot 10-for-10 in restricted areas and often played through hard contact — a 3-point range in the third quarter. All the while, he was an active presence on defense and on the grass, even pulling down his offensive rebounds for layups as the game threatened to slip away from the Bulls in the second half.
Still, there were moments when LaVine seemed to force his own offense. In the end, he finished his 12-for-4 from the field after starting his 12-for-16. But at least he rolled himself before doing so, playing with noticeable pop on both ends for four quarters. I can see the signs.
7. DeRozan had another off night with 18 points on 18-6 shooting in Sacramento, following a 15-4 shooting night with the Golden State Warriors on Friday. To make matters worse, he missed his four of his five shooting attempts in the fourth quarter.
8. The Bulls scored 20 points off the bench. In other words, you scored as many points as Malik Monk did on his own. His sixth man for the Kings was a big problem in this game as he drilled down his difficult-contested 3-pointer and added five assists and his two steals. His most impactful stretch was his 5-point spurt early in his fourth that pushed the Kings lead to 93-87 after the Bulls made it 88-87. . But this slam was his most impressive highlight.
Sacramento also got a tenacious defense from Davion Mitchell (3 steals, 1 block) and some rim runs from reserve group Chimezy Metu (10 points, 5-for-5 shooting).
9. For the second straight game, backup center Andre Drummond posted single-digit minutes. He posted his 5:28 against the Warriors on Friday, before his 5:32 against the Kings.
After playing Drummond’s typical first half rotation runs in this game, Donovan turned to Derrick Jones Jr. at backup center in the second half, perhaps for defensive action. After suffering three turnovers in the first half, Jones contributed a three-pointer as the Bulls made a run early in the fourth quarter to get four rebounds and one steal.
Ten. The Bulls went 2-4 and fell 9-14 on the season after a pivotal six-game trip with stops in Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, Utah, Phoenix, San Francisco and Sacramento. The bright side is that he has four of his next five games at home and has a record of five wins and five losses this season. And in the Wizards, Mavericks, and Knicks (twice), these are against teams with records of .500 or less in all four games.
What’s next for the Bulls: Heading home Wednesday to host the Wizards.
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