Vucevic thrives in first-quarter role as Bulls beat Wizards
DeMar DeRozan has been Mr. Fourth Quarter for the Bulls all season.
So now is Nikola Vucevic Mr. First Quarter?
In Washington on Tuesday, Vucevic scored the Bulls' first 9 points and had 15 of his 27 points in the opening quarter. DeRozan sealed the deal with 14 of his 32 points in the fourth as the Bulls snagged a much-needed 107-94 win over the Wizards.
The Bulls (44-32) finished their Midwest regional road trip with a 2-3 record, but are still holding down the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference with six games left.
Was this game a formula for victory the Bulls need to replicate?
Well, it's no secret that Vucevic likes to go to work early in games near the basket. When that happens, he tends to shoot better from 3-point range. Coach Billy Donovan said getting the ball to Vucevic early was a topic during the team's breakfast meeting.
"We're just trying to do a better job of playing through Vuc, especially with me and Zach (LaVine) getting pressured so much," DeRozan said. "Once he gets it going, it makes everybody else's job easier. He was aggressive out of the gate. We lean on that and we got it going in the second half."
The Bulls have had a tendency to forget about Vucevic in all four quarters sometimes.
The look-inside-early strategy worked well Tuesday with Washington newcomer Kristaps Porzingis playing the defense, and should succeed against the Clippers' Ivica Zubac. After that, it might be a different story against Miami and Milwaukee, but that's a concern for another day.
"Usually when I'm able to get those, it gets me going," Vucevic said. "Then I was able to step out and hit some shots as well. Teams focus on DeMar and Zach a lot in pick-and-rolls, it opens up a lot for the rest of us. I was just trying to be aggressive and my teammates were able to find me."
It took a while for the Bulls to put this one away. But after going 2-for-12 from the field in the first half, DeRozan hit 6 of 7 shots in the fourth quarter. Remember, Washington was where DeRozan hit the second of his consecutive game-winning 3-pointers on Jan. 1.
"I don't let missed shots discourage me," DeRozan said. "I flip a switch when the fourth quarter starts. It's like a different game for me. I try to approach it mentally where you know everything's going to pick up and I try to do the opposite and slow down come fourth quarter. You can just feel the game be completely different than the other three quarters."
One thing that has been missing lately is the supporting cast. While LaVine didn't shoot it well, the Bulls got 9 points each from Coby White and Javonte Green off the bench, while Patrick Williams had maybe his best performance of the season with 6 points, 7 rebounds and a steal in 25 minutes.
White led the Bulls in plus-minus with a plus-18 in 29 minutes. The Bulls got back to sharing the ball, with White dishing out 5 assists, while Ayo Dosunmu had 6.
This was the Bulls' last game against an opponent that's not in a playoff position. The next five games will be at home, against teams in playoff position - the Clippers, Miami, Milwaukee, Boston and Charlotte - before they end the regular season in Minnesota.
Twitter: @McGrawDHSports