Carter sees light at end of tunnel after narrow Bulls loss
For one of the few times in his NBA career, Wendell Carter Jr. got a chance to pick on a younger player.
The Bulls center dominated his first matchup with Golden State's James Wiseman, the No. 2 pick in the November draft. Carter finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds, while Wiseman had 7 points and 3 boards in 23 minutes.
"Nah, I just looked at it as another game for us, especially with us losing by so many points in the first two games," the 21-year-old Carter said after Sunday's game. "I walked into this game knowing that it had to change. Whoever it was on the other end, I was going to play the same way. But I felt like we definitely had to get a win."
Sunday's game felt like a win, considering how poorly the Bulls played in their first two contests. But after leading by as many as 9 points in the fourth quarter, the Bulls lost to the Warriors 129-128 on Damion Lee's 3-pointer with 1.7 seconds remaining.
"I feel like definitely this third loss is the worst of them all because we came out, we played the game we were supposed to play and they made a really tough shot at the end," Carter said.
"It's tough, but it's a beautiful struggle, in my opinion. We're all going to get through this tough time all together. There's a light at the end of the tunnel. We all see it, we all put the work in, we'll all eventually get there."
At 0-3, the Bulls will meet up with a winless opponent again Tuesday in Washington. This will be a two-game series over three days. That's a feature of the shortened NBA schedule, occasional two-game series in the same city to cut down on travel.
The Wizards were just swept in a two-game series against Orlando. Newcomer Russell Westbrook sat out Sunday's second leg of the back-to-back, so he should be rested and ready for this game.
Lauri Markkanen, off to a hot start this season, is listed as questionable due to a calf contusion. He left the Warriors game late in the fourth quarter after hitting his leg on an opposing player. Markkanen is averaging 20.0 points and 7.7 rebounds so far, while hitting 10 of 21 attempts from 3-point range.
Meanwhile, veteran forward Thaddeus Young is probable on the injury report. So he could make his season debut Tuesday after recovering from a left lower leg infection.
Working some veterans into the lineup is definitely something the Bulls need. Garrett Temple, Tomas Satoransky and Otto Porter all saw action down the stretch Sunday. Head coach Billy Donovan stuck with the young starting lineup, including rookie Patrick Williams, but didn't rule out changes.
"I don't look at it necessarily as benching anybody," Donovan said of potential changes. "I do think that you've got to try to find the right combinations. I think every game we play, at least for myself, it's information on different lineups and things like that."
While the Bulls did play much better Sunday, much of that can be attributed to the opponent. With injured stars and several key newcomers, the Warriors were a mess for much of the contest, but Steph Curry's 36 points helped carry them to a win.
The Bulls will play 10 of their next 13 games on the road and aren't likely to be favored in any of those games.
"Nothing is ever easy, so you've just got to be ready," Zach LaVine said after scoring a season-high 33 points against Golden State. "I don't think anyone cares if we played better. Opponents are going to come in and try to beat us, so we've got to be ready from the get-go like we were (Sunday)."
Twitter: @McGrawDHBulls