Lavine's late basket sends Bulls past shorthanded Clippers
Sure, the Bulls' first win over an opponent with a winning record happened Saturday while the Los Angeles Clippers were missing Kawhi Leonard, Patrick Beverley and Lou Williams.
The Bulls are in no spot to apologize for any victory, though, and this one was a showcase for a couple of their own guys who used to be missing in action: Kris Dunn and Denzel Valentine.
Dunn and Valentine helped set up Zach LaVine's game-winner, a driving bank shot and 3-point play with two seconds left. The Bulls finished the game on a 9-1 run and beat the Clippers 109-106 at the United Center.
The situation seemed bleak for the Bulls when they trailed 105-100 with 1:45 left after Paul George hit a turnaround jumper. LaVine answered with a 3-pointer to cut the margin to 2.
On the other end, George drove past Kris Dunn, who took what may have been an unnecessary foul since Wendell Carter Jr. stepped in to make a good shot contest. But George missed 1 of his 2 free throws.
LaVine (31 points) fired up another tough 3-pointer and missed, but Dunn jumped in between a few Clippers to keep the rebound alive. The ball bounced to Lauri Markkanen and he shoveled a quick pass to Valentine, who buried a tying 3-pointer from the top of the key with 47.9 seconds left.
"I think it was Mo Harkless that tried to grab the ball, I smacked it out of his hands and tried to get it toward the 3-point line," Dunn said. "Good thing Lauri was there. He got the rebound and passed it back to Denzel, he made a big play."
After missing all of last year recovering from ankle surgery, Valentine wasn't playing at all when the season began. So even being on the floor in the fourth quarter was a little bit of a new trend. But the Bulls are always in need of more 3-point shooters and Valentine is a good one.
"Last two minutes, I was like, 'They better not leave me open,'" Valentine said. "KD went in there, made a great play on the ball. Lauri got a huge rebound and kicked it out to me. I was just very confident in knocking that shot down and I'm blessed."
After an exchange of empty possessions, the Bulls got the ball with 11 seconds left and the score tied. After the Clippers (20-8) took the foul they had to give, the Bulls came up with a twist that opened a path to the basket for LaVine.
"We call it a blur action," Dunn said. "A lot of teams do it in the league. You just try to run as fast as you can to the guy and make it seem like you're doing a screen, but you're slipping out. A lot of teams do it with shooters, that's how (Landry) Shamet got that one 3 on us, between me and Denzel. As soon as I ran toward Paul George, I seen him look at me and open up his body and it allowed Zach to get downhill."
Basically, George caught in traffic behind Dunn and the player guarding him. LaVine had an open lane and just had to finish over Clippers center Montrezl Harrel, who was a handful all night. Harrell led the Clippers with 30 points and 14 rebounds, but LaVine managed to create contact, lean back and throw in a bank shot with the foul.
The fact that Dunn has become one of the most valuable Bulls is also a surprise since he seemed like the odd man out after the summer. He took on that defensive assignment of guarding George (27 points) most of the night, despite a four-inch height difference.
"I have no problem. I need all of it," Dunn said. "Whoever the best player on the team, I want it. Of course if he's a big man, I ain't guarding no big man. But I can hold my own down there in the post too. I asin't backing down from nobody and I bring it."
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Twitter: @McGrawDHBulls