Dosunmu, Vucevic make sure Bulls have their say against Washington
The Bulls weren't about to get overshadowed by St. Patrick or the Steelers without a fight Saturday.
Before tip-off against Washington, they handed the microphone to Bulls legend Dennis Rodman, who got a little weepy while receiving a huge ovation.
After the Bulls rolled to an easy 127-98 victory, there was plenty of talk in the locker room about NFL quarterbacks. USC product DeMar DeRozan was hyping up presumed No. 1 draft pick Caleb Williams, saying he told Ayo Dosunmu the Bears would end up with the USC signal-caller.
Dosunmu, who scored a career-high 34 points, was sad to see Justin Fields go but told a reporter the Bears would make the playoffs next season.
Overall, the Bulls were playing the team with the NBA's worst record. But instead of struggling without the injured Coby White, Dosunmu flourished with the chance to be the lead guard. In addition to 34 points, he tacked on 9 assists and hit 14 of 22 shots. He scored by attacking the basket and knocked down 4 of 7 shots from 3-point range.
“It feels great anytime you can accomplish a career-high,” Dosunmu said. “But most importantly we got the win. I was very excited for that, but it's always about just bouncing back from the last game. I just wanted to go out there, try to be aggressive and do whatever it took to help get the win.”
For a while, it seemed like the only drama would be whether Dosunmu could record the first 30-point game of his NBA career. He got it done with a fastbreak layup midway through the fourth quarter.
Then with five minutes left, play was stopped suddenly as Nikola Vucevic and Washington's Eugene Omoruyi started jawing. Vucevic was hit with a technical and after the free throw, the Bulls went right into the post, Vucevic scored over Omoruyi and hit him with the Patrick Beverley-style “too small” gesture.
“That was my way of talking back,” Vucevic said. “He came down and said some things I didn't like, that I just don't think you should say to another man, especially not on the court, especially not being a young guy trying to make it against a player that's been around a long time.”
Vucevic explained what happened. He didn't like a play that happened earlier, was talking to the referee about it, then he said Omoruyi walked up and added his two cents.
“He said, 'Shut up' and then he used the b-word,” Vucevic added. “I just think that's very disrespectful to say to anybody.
“Obviously, he was playing hard, he was competing. I respect that, but you've got to watch what you say and how you talk to people, you've got to be respectful. That was why I said something back to him.”
Vucevic scored 16 of his 29 points in the first quarter. DeRozan took things relatively easy and scored just 13 points.
This was the start of an interesting stretch for the Bulls, with a couple of home games against teams sitting deep at the bottom of the standings. Washington (11-56) recently moved past Detroit for the league's worst record and Portland (19-47) visits the UC on Monday.
Meanwhile, the Bulls are trying to survive without White, who suffered a hip strain last week at Indiana. The hope is he could return next week, either in Houston on Thursday or at home against Boston on Saturday.
“He's doing pretty well,” coach Billy Donovan said before the game. “I don't want to rule anything out, but the hope is sometime in this next week we'll have him back.”
The question is whether the Bulls can build some depth. The team announced rookie Julian Phillips will miss time with a right foot sprain. The plan is for him to wear a walking boot and be reevaluated in two weeks. Donovan didn't really add anyone new to the rotation, just more playing time for Jevon Carter, Dalen Terry and Onuralp Bitim.
With 14 games left in the regular season, there's not a ton on the line for the Bulls. But it would be nice to hold off Atlanta for ninth place, which would mean a home game in the play-in tournament.
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