Dotson hurt as Bulls lose summer game to Minnesota
The Bulls shot 25 percent from the field and lost to Minnesota 78-59 in their third game at the Las Vegas summer league Thursday.
Patrick Williams led the Bulls with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while point guard Devon Dotson left the game with a right ankle sprain.
"He rolled his ankle, it's as simple as that," Bulls summer coach Damian Cotter said after the game. "I don't know the extent of it yet, just looking at it in the locker room, I think he'll be OK. I'm not sure what his status is for the next game, though."
The Bulls had it rolling in the second half of their previous game against San Antonio, but fell to 1-2 after this result. Williams hit 6 of 15 shots from the field. Center Marko Simonovic added 10 points. Reserve guards Jaylen Adams and Ethan Thompson combined to go 2-for-16 from 3-point range.
Rookie guard Ayo Dosunmu hasn't stood out so far in summer league and scored just 2 points against the Timberwolves.
"Young fellas basketball to me," Cotter said (in his Australian accent). "We missed a few and then guys started playing tentative. Then we stopped moving the ball. It was a struggle today, then when Dot got hurt, it really impacted our cohesiveness."
The best news for the Bulls this week has been the play of Williams. He's been the aggressive, confident and versatile player the Bulls had in mind when they chose him with the No. 4 overall pick in 2020. Summer league doesn't always translate to the NBA regular season, though. Williams wasn't sure if he'll play in the final two summer games.
"We put in so much work this summer, put in so many reps, coming out here I had no choice but to be aggressive," Williams said. "I had no choice but to be confident. I just thank (the coaches) for their time and their energy. When I go back to Chicago, it will be the same thing.
"This has been a great experience for me, honestly, just because you get those game reps. No matter how much you work one-on-one or two-on-one in the summer, nothing matches game reps. So being able to come out here with this group of guys and get game reps at the things I've been working on all summer, it's always good. Then you also get to see what you need to work on, that you may not have been working on all summer."
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