Bulls fall to Jazz; Williams takes another step toward return
The Bulls have reached the most difficult part of an NBA regular season, and just when they were competing for a top-2 seed in the East, they've run into a brick wall.
Wednesday's 125-110 loss at Utah was their seventh defeat in the last nine games. And things won't get easier anytime soon.
"I always say when you're achieve or accomplish something or get somewhere, in the moment of difficulty, find out how important it is to you," Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. "I'm sure a lot of guys are saying, 'This is just harder than I thought it was.' And it is."
Guarding Utah's Donovan Mitchell was a huge challenge. He scored 25 of his 37 points in the third quarter, hitting a career-high 9th basket from 3-point range before the quarter was even over. Mitchell finished the game 9-for-15 from long range.
Zach LaVine stood by his promise to be more aggressive, which he made after Monday's loss in Sacramento. LaVine drove into the lane, hit five 3-pointers and scored 33 points.
"Just wanted to go out there and play as hard as I can," LaVine said. "Hopefully we can start stockpiling some of these wins. This game was a lot closer than the score dictated. A couple runs here and there can break a game open against a really good team like this. I like the way we came out, we fought, but we still made too many mistakes."
Mitchell's flurry put Utah ahead 89-81 at the end of three. Then when the Bulls closed within 103-99 with 6:52 left, the Jazz answered with a 14-0 run. The Bulls strung together a series of bad plays, allowing Jazz newcomer Nickeil Alexander-Walker to knock down two straight corner 3-pointers, one when they forgot to guard him on an inbound play.
"There's just an attention to detail and a concentration," Donovan said. "It's being at the free-throw line and not thinking about the last play or the next play I've got to block out. It's a side out of bounds, who have I got, let's get matched up before the ball comes inbounds. That ability to shift to the next thing quickly is where we've got to get better.
"As much as DeMar (DeRozan) or Alex (Caruso) or Tristan (Thompson) talk about their (playoff) experience, it's nothing like when you go through your own personal experience. It's being pushed in front of our face every single game. These games can change in a possession."
DeRozan added 25 points. Caruso, in his third game back since missing 22 with a broken right wrist, had a quiet night. He finished with 2 points, 3 turnovers and admitted he's still working his way back into basketball shape and full health.
"It just gets banged up a little bit," Caruso said. "There's nothing wrong with it, it's just sore. It's just going to take time. We took a very aggressive rehab schedule so I could be back with the team and try to play. It just comes with the territory."
Before the game, Donovan said Patrick Williams has been cleared for full contact practice. He hasn't played since injuring his left wrist in the Oct. 28 game against New York.
Williams, the second-year forward, is not on the current road trip, so he'll likely join in some Windy City Bulls practice in the next few days, while the Bulls will likely hold a practice Sunday.
"We'll see how he responds, but it's good news," Donovan said. "All that's on the table in terms of what's the best avenue to help him, whether it's just practices or games (with Windy City). It's all open-minded right now and no decisions have been made, but certainly those things are on the table."
Donovan said Lonzo Ball doing more in his rehab from arthroscopic knee surgery, but has not yet done any full-speed sprinting. So Ball figures to be a couple weeks away from a return, if not more.
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