Bulls' newcomer always ready to knock down shots
Anthony Morrow had a front-row seat, obviously, when the Bulls' defense went completely off the rails in the third quarter of Friday's 117-107 loss to Philadelphia at the United Center.
Trailing by 13 at halftime, the Bulls defense stepped aside and allowed the 76ers hit 11 of their first 12 shots in the second half. All of the baskets came on layups or dunks and the one miss was slammed home by Sixers center Shawn Long.
The defensive debacle led to Morrow getting his first extended playing time since joining the Bulls in the Oklahoma City trade on Feb. 23. The veteran sharpshooter delivered with 10 points in 18 minutes. He's 3-for-4 from 3-point range in a Bulls uniform.
With nine games left in the regular season, the Bulls are scrambling to stay in the playoff picture, so maybe Morrow will get more chances.
"It's a lot of young guys, so there's going to be ups and downs, obviously," Morrow said of his new teammates Saturday at the Advocate Center. "That's just the growing pains of it. They see how good they are when we beat good teams, but they see that if we don't bring it every night, we lose to bad teams."
The 6-foot-5 Morrow is in his ninth NBA season and is playing for his seventh different team. So he's been around and sees some positives in this Bulls squad.
"The teammates are extremely close," Morrow said. "I would just say it's a mixture of vets and young guys. With D-Wade being hurt, it's a huge blow in terms of leadership and championship experience on the floor. We've got enough guys to rally around. Jimmy (Butler's) done a great job of trying to make guys better, playing every position he needs to on both ends of the floor."
Already, Morrow has kind of taken rookie Denzel Valentine under his wing. Those two were the last to leave the practice court Saturday before the Bulls boarded the bus to Milwaukee.
"I know he went to Michigan State and I saw his work ethic," Morrow said. "We were in here doing ballhandling drills, and I'm like, he's a rookie so he's still got that college workout mentality. I'm like, let me get some of that. I haven't had that in a while. It's cool to work out with guys who want to get in the gym, want to get better, want to compete, stuff like that."
The Bucks have been a bad matchup for the Bulls this season. The teams haven't met since Dec. 31, but the Bulls are 0-3 in the series and none of the games have been close.
Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said he watched film of the last meeting and after getting off to a quick start, Milwaukee got out in transition and for the rest of the night, the Bucks were running downhill and the Bulls uphill.
"Their length has really bothered us," Hoiberg said. "You have to take care of the ball against this team, they're as good as there is in the league in turning you over and taking advantage of that. If they turn you over, they get dunks on the other end."
There's no easy explanation for the Bulls' defensive failures on Friday. It was a variety of players getting beat on drives, but if fault was assigned to each basket, Nikola Mirotic, Paul Zipser and Joffrey Lauvergne probably deserve a couple of bad marks each.
"The biggest thing was staying in front of the basketball," Hoiberg said. "Our communication was pretty much nonexistent as well. That's something where you get smacked in the mouth and some of the basic things you're supposed to do stop happening."
After falling behind by 26, the Bulls got within 10 points with 7:15 remaining, but had two chances to pull closer and missed shots. Morrow was one of the Bulls' best performers and is ready if his number is called again.
"I understand you want to make the playoffs and you're at this stretch of the season and you want to keep young guys consistent in their roles," Morrow said. "(Not playing) wasn't something I was really worried about, I just knew whenever I got the call I would be able to make shots."
• Get the latest Bulls news via Twitter by following @McGrawDHBulls.
Bulls game day
Bulls vs. Milwaukee Bucks at the Bradley Center, 2:30 p.m. Sunday
TV: Comcast SportsNet
Radio: WLS 890-AM
Outlook: The Bucks (37-35) are the hottest team in the East, winning 11 of their last 13, a stretch that included a six-game West Coast trip. By beating Atlanta on Friday, Milwaukee moved into a tie with the Hawks for fourth place. SF Giannis Antetokounmpo has averaged 33 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists over the past two games. The Bucks added SG Khris Middleton, who returned from an injury in February and is averaged 15 points, but lost PF Jabari Parker to a torn ACL. C John Henson is out with a sprained left thumb. C Greg Monroe (13.2 ppg in March) and rookie SG Malcolm Brogdon (12.3) have increased their scoring lately. Milwaukee has blown out the Bulls three times this season, including 108-97 at the Bradley Center on Dec. 15, a game the Bulls trailed by as many as 27 points.
Next: Cleveland Cavaliers at the United Center on Thursday, 7 p.m.
- Mike McGraw