Last shots don't fall as Bulls lose to San Antonio by 1
Identifying the hot hand has been a problem at times for the Bulls this season.
The correct answer changed frequently on Monday at the United Center and the Bulls didn't get it right enough times. They lost 108-107 to San Antonio after missing two late chances at a go-ahead basket.
This was the problem: Zach LaVine checked in early in the fourth quarter and couldn't miss. He hit 4 straight jumpers, including a 3-pointer to give the Bulls a 99-96 lead.
Then LaVine couldn't hit. He kept launching jumpers that fell short and San Antonio seemed to put the game away when LaMarcus Aldridge dunked over Robin Lopez and finished a 3-point play to make it 108-101 with 2:13 left.
As it turned out, the Bulls did have a hot hand. It belonged to Ryan Arcidiacono, who scored a career-high 22 points and knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers, bringing the Bulls within a point with 48 seconds left.
The Bulls forced a miss and had a chance to win. Coach Fred Hoiberg didn't want to Spurs to sub in their defensive lineup, so he didn't call time out. It was LaVine's game, he waved off a screen from Wendell Carter Jr. and shot a step-back 3-pointer over DeMar DeRozan that barely grazed the front of the rim with 3.6 seconds left. It was LaVine's fifth-straight miss.
"By the way the game was going, I thought I could have made it," LaVine said. "I'm a confident shooter, made a lot of shots like that. I didn't want them to double-team me, that's why I called the pick away.
"It's on me. Coach put the confidence in me to make the right play and I appreciate that. I've got to put the ball in the hoop to get us a win."
Hoiberg acknowledged that he would have like to see LaVine use the screen and try to attack the basket.
"That's the one thing I would have liked to see," Hoiberg said. "Again, I have confidence in Zach LaVine. He's been great for us all year. We'll go back and watch it and learn from it."
The Bulls (5-16) actually got another shot at victory. The Spurs took the ball out of bounds with the Bulls looking to foul, but Arcidiacono deflected an inbounds pass intended for Aldridge, chased down the ball and launched a 17-foot baseline jumper. That one, too, bounced off the front rim as time expired.
"I had to get a little more on it, but definitely a shot I should have made," Arcidiacono said. "I thought it was good. Especially making the last two shots that I did, I had all the confidence in the world shooting that."
Earlier in the game, Justin Holiday had the hot hand. He tied a Bulls' franchise record by making at least 3 baskets from 3-point range in the sixth straight game. Holiday finished 5-for-8 from 3-point range, but was ignored in the fourth quarter.
LaVine led the Bulls with 28 points, Jabari Parker had 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Holiday finished with 17. Hoiberg did his best to hide a thin bench, staggering the substitutions so that either LaVine or Parker was on the floor at all times.
Parker was the only starter on the floor to open the fourth quarter, as the Bulls clung to an 83-80 lead. Sometimes that group clicked, such as when Shaq Harrison stole it from DeRozan and threw a nice behind-the-back pass on the break to Parker for a slam.
Not long after, though, Cam Payne decided to isolate himself against Spurs forward Dante Cunningham, shot an air-ball jumper five feet beyond the basket, which led to a 3-pointer from Marco Belinelli, giving San Antonio a 91-88 advantage.
Twitter: @McGrawDHBulls