Leveling off: Bulls start fast, but can’t finish final lap against Minnesota

The Bulls are trying to pick up their pace this season. The question is how fast for how long?

After dropping a dud in Dallas on Wednesday, the Bulls headed straight home for a matchup at the United Center with emerging Western Conference power Minnesota.

The Bulls managed a nice sprint at the start and seemed to be moving at 2x speed while scoring 65 points in the first half. That last lap, though, was like running in sand. Fast Times at the UC didn’t last.

The Timberwolves, who hadn't played since Monday, outscored the Bulls 45-24 in the fourth quarter and pulled out a 135-119 victory Thursday.

Obviously, it's not easy to be the faster team on less rest. The first set of back-to-back games this season produced an ugly loss in the home opener against Oklahoma City, and the Bulls are already bracing for five games in seven nights coming up in two weeks.

“Yeah, it's going to be tough,” Coby White said. “That's why everybody has to be ready. In order to play that way, everybody has to be able to contribute. I think we've done that, but it's going to be hard to sustain some nights.

“Just that fourth quarter, Anthony Edwards was Anthony Edwards. We had some missed layups and turnovers, didn't come up with some rebounds we had to get.”

The Bulls hit 14 of 28 attempts from 3-point range through three quarters, then made just one in the fourth. The lone make was by Talen Horton-Tucker, whose 3 put the Bulls up 106-101 with 9:06 remaining. The Bulls missed their next four shots, had a free-throw opportunity erased by a video challenge and watched the Timberwolves go on a game-changing 12-0 run, capped with back-to-back 3-pointers by Edwards (33 points).

The Bulls scored a couple baskets to stay in it, but a 3-point play by Rudy Gobert with 4:37 left seemed to put it away.

Center Nikola Vucevic led the Bulls with 25 points, but scored none in the fourth quarter. White bounced back from a rough shooting night against the Mavs to score 24.

“They raised their level, we didn't really respond to it,” Vucevic said. “Obviously Ant made some tough shots. We missed, especially me, a couple of good looks we had on offense, which didn't help.”

There should have been a bright side to the 20-point loss in Dallas. Extended garbage time meant no starter played more than 29 minutes, while rookie Matas Buzelis got a chance to collect his first double-figure scoring game in the NBA with 13 points.

White said during September the Bulls played pickup games with a 14-second shot clock to try to prepare for the faster pace. But with the games piling up early in the season and a couple of players out with injuries, the finishing kick has been tough to find.

“You're always thinking about (minutes) on back-to-backs, regardless if you're trying to play as fast as we are,” coach Billy Donovan said. “Even if you're playing a little bit slower, it does take a lot out of those guys physically. I think the reality is, the game's getting faster and faster. That's just kind of the way it's going.”

Zach LaVine missed his third straight game with a right adductor strain, though Donovan expects him to return soon, perhaps Saturday in Atlanta.

Chicago native and former Illini star Terrence Shannon Jr. scored a couple of baskets for Minnesota in the waning minutes, including a dunk.