Mismatched Bulls collapse in second half against Toronto
The Bulls' march to a .500 record followed the wrong path Tuesday.
Facing a short-handed Toronto squad at the United Center, the Bulls led by 16 points late in the first half and tried to coast home, but they were outplayed badly in the second half. The Raptors won 118-107, knocking the Bulls' record down to 22-26.
The Raptors were missing their two acquisitions from the Knicks — R.J. Barrett (knee) and Immanuel Quickley (quad) — plus center Jakob Poeltl (ankle).
“They were just driving the ball down our throat,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. “That's really what the difference was. We just didn't score at the same rate.”
This game was another demonstration of how the Bulls have pieces that don't fit together very well. The Raptors play small and started ex-Bull Thad Young at center. But the Bulls didn't make much effort to get the ball inside to center Nikola Vucevic, who spent most of his time standing near the 3-point line.
With their smaller lineup Toronto still won the points in the paint 48-46. Young outscored Vucevic 16-14 and the Bulls coughed up 20 turnovers. Gary Trent Jr. got hot early and knocked down 6 of 11 3-pointers, while point guard Dennis Schroder dished out 10 assists.
“We didn't do a good job containing the ball up top and then when we did come over to help the next closeout, we were getting beat off the dribble,” Donovan said. “I thought our help could have been better, I thought our gaps were too wide. Schroder in particular just kept going downhill, going downhill. We've got to be able to contain the ball a little bit better.”
The Bulls stretched the lead in the first half with athletic forwards Julian Phillips and Dalen Terry on the floor, but their playing time was limited.
Terry left the game with an ankle injury in the final minute of the third quarter. He drove into traffic for a fast break lay-in and hit the ground hard. When he stood up, he didn't put any weight on his right leg and was helped to the locker room.
After the game Donovan said X-rays were negative and called it an ankle sprain. The Bulls flew to Charlotte after the game and will play the second leg of back-to-back games Wednesday.
The point is, Phillips and Terry fit well in a fast-paced style. When matched with Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu and Alex Caruso, the Bulls can be aggressive in the passing lanes and try to create transition baskets.
As it stands, the Bulls are driving in between the lines. Vucevic can be an offensive weapon, but not if his teammates don't look for him. And it's been well-established how the Bulls' center shoots better from 3-point range when he gets early touches in the paint.
The Bulls wasted a nice night by Dosunmu, who hit 8 of 11 shots for 21 points. DeMar DeRozan led the way with 25 points. White was a little quiet after picking up two quick fouls early in the game.
After producing his first double-digit scoring game in the NBA on Sunday at Portland, Phillips scored all 9 of his points in the first half Tuesday. The Bulls got just 4 points from their bench after halftime.
There should be more playing time available for Phillips in the coming days, because Patrick Williams is expected to be out at least through the all-star break. The Bulls announced earlier in the day Williams has been diagnosed with acute bone edema in his left foot.
“They'll wait a few weeks to see how well they can get it calmed down,” Donovan said before the game. “I think he had been kind of nursing that and managing that for several games and I think it got to a point where it just became too uncomfortable to play.”
Donovan said there's no return in sight for Zach LaVine from an ankle injury, but forward Torrey Craig (foot) is making good progress and might be closing in on a return.
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