Rookie Mirotic's outstanding month continues in win over Pacers
The Bulls obviously felt good about Nikola Mirotic's potential as an NBA player when acquiring his draft rights in 2011.
But who knew he would be a go-to scorer, a fourth-quarter finisher and one of the fastest big men in the league before his rookie season was over?
With the Bulls using the familiar three-men-out lineup, Mirotic scored 25 points to produce a relatively easy 103-86 victory over Indiana on Wednesday at the United Center.
“Niko's gotten more and more comfortable,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “He's got a very unique skill set. He's never satisfied. He always wants to do better.”
During the month of March, as the Bulls have played without Jimmy Butler, Derrick Rose and Taj Gibson, Mirotic has averaged 20.8 points and 8.2 rebounds.
He leads the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring this month at 10.0 points per game, more than James Harden, Russell Westbrook, LeBron James — anyone.
Asked about rising to the occasion in the fourth quarter after Wednesday's game, Mirotic shrugged and pointed out he was in plenty of stressful situations with Real Madrid. Before jumping to the NBA, Mirotic played in the EuroLeague Final Four three of the last four years.
“When I played in Madrid, I took a lot of important shots, playing important minutes, playing in a lot of finals,” Mirotic said. “So I don't really feel pressure in the last minutes. Just believe. If they make some plays for you, just be positive: 'Hey, they believe in me, I believe in myself too. I'm going to make this shot.'
“I'm really happy, because I think it's really important. It doesn't happen always with rookies.”
Another surprising aspect of Mirotic's surge is he's not doing it from the 3-point line. In fact, he's shooting just 25.8 percent from long range this month.
He's scoring in all sorts of ways — by putting the ball on the floor and driving past defenders, on fastbreaks, offensive rebounds.
“I'm not really shooting that well, but I'm running the floor and getting rebounds,” Mirotic said. “I'm showing that I'm not just a shooter.”
The Bulls (41-28) are expecting to get Butler and Gibson back soon. But expect Mirotic to continue playing heavy minutes into the playoffs. He's a tough matchup for any team. Maybe the only big man in the league equipped to guard him is Noah, who owns the locker next to Mirotic.
“I think the sky's the limit for him,” Noah said. “He's still learning the game. I think he's a very confident player. I think he can be a very good defensive player, as well. He played a good defensive game tonight.”
Against Indiana, the Bulls led 51-41 at halftime and kept control the rest of the way. Mike Dunleavy scored 19 of his 21 points in the first half, while Pau Gasol added 19 points and 12 rebounds.
After two miserable rebounding games against Charlotte and Oklahoma City, the Bulls finished with a 52-38 advantage on the boards, led by Noah with 14.
Indiana (30-37) has gone 13-5 since Feb. 4, but this was the Pacers' third straight loss. They're hoping to get Paul George back before the end of the regular season. He's been out since suffering that nasty broken leg in a Team USA scrimmage last August.
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