With chance to win, Bulls crumble in crunch time
When this game tipped off, the United Center was mostly empty. The fans that eventually made it through the snow were treated to a rare occurrence - the Bulls with a chance to win a home game.
There was some excitement at the end, but it also felt like the Bulls failed a midterm exam in how to finish a close game, losing to the Los Angeles Clippers 106-101 on Friday.
"I don't know if this game was trying to teach us or not, but it was a very winnable game," said Zach LaVine, who led the Bulls with 29 points. "I think we should have (won). We competed, we made the good plays, but they just made more."
They made the right plays a few times. LaVine started the fourth quarter with a couple of nice drives to the basket and the Bulls survived a scoring drought. A couple of LaVine 3-pointers put the Bulls ahead and when Kris Dunn knocked down an 18-foot jumper, they led 97-96 with 2:13 left.
After a defensive stop, Lauri Markkanen missed a chance to build the lead when his drive to the basket was blocked by renowned defensive master Patrick Beverley, the Chicago native who stands 11 inches shorter than Markkanen.
On the other end, Dunn was called for a foul as Lou Williams drained a 3-pointer. The 4-point play put the Clippers in control at 100-97 with 1:44 remaining.
LaVine played it smart and went to the basket, scoring on a drive through the lane. The Bulls got a defensive stop and had a chance to take the lead. But when the Clippers double-teamed LaVine off a screen, Bobby Portis was open for a second and hesitated to launch a 3. The Bulls had time for a couple more passes, but eventually suffered a 24-second violation as Chandler Hutchison's desperation 3-pointer missed everything.
The Bulls tried to pull off a similar defensive strategy, trapping Williams and forcing someone else to take a shot. Unfortunately for the Bulls, Beverley found an open path to the basket and tossed in a runner over Portis to make it a 3-point game. Maybe if a better shot-blocker like Wendell Carter Jr. was on the floor, it would have been different, but he's out with a thumb injury.
"We were a little late on the rotation," coach Jim Boylen said. "We didn't want Williams or (Tobias) Harris to beat us. We let Beverley be the guy that beat us and he made the play. I wasn't going to let those guys beat us. You just can't do that."
Trailing by 3 once again, LaVine fired a quick 3-point shot, but missed everything. The Clippers scored on a lob pass and this one went into the books as a nice try by the Bulls.
"Just missed it. Pat didn't even contest it, I didn't even see him," LaVine said of his late airball. "I rose over the top of him, I just air-balled it. Wish I could have did it again. I'll take that shot again, though. I think I could have made it."
One positive for the Bulls was Jabari Parker, who brought the Bulls to life during a nearly 13-minute run in the first half. He hit 5 of 7 shots for 12 points, adding 3 assists, a block and a steal. The Bulls went from down 8 to up 6 while he was on the floor.
Hutchison collected his first career double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. But it wasn't enough to keep up with the Clippers' two-man game of Williams (31 points) and Harris (29).
"I saw some signs of growth," Boylen said." Hard-fought game against a good team. I thought they made more plays than we did and I thought they finished off the fourth better than we did."
Twitter: @McGrawDHBulls