Bulls lose again to lowly Pistons thanks to horrendous shooting
The Bulls became the first team to lose twice to the Detroit Pistons this season, falling 105-95 on Tuesday at the United Center.
It took a historically bad shooting night to get it done, though, as the Bulls went 2-for-29 from 3-point range and shot 29.4% overall in the second half. So silver lining, maybe? Probably not.
“It's a total outlier game in terms of that kind of shooting,” coach Billy Donovan said. “It wasn't like we were down 25 because of it. We still had opportunities to overcome it. I do think to a certain extent the frustration got in a little bit.”
The Bulls led by as many as 13 in the first half and the front line seemed to fare well. DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic scored 25 points each, while Andre Drummond had 20 off the bench. But nothing else was clicking. Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu and Alex Caruso went a combined 0-for-15 from behind the line.
“I think we got some great looks tonight,” Dosunmu said. “It was kind of amusing to see the great looks we got that didn't fall. That's when you need to grind it out, get to the free-throw line, get more stops than usual.”
Most of the Bulls' attempts from long range were open looks, and they hit a couple with toes on the line. Detroit, though, went 14-for-37 from 3-point range and the Bulls for some reason let Simone Fontecchio get loose for five 3-pointers without much defensive attention.
“You are aware when you're shooting that poorly,” Dosunmu said. “But when I'm open, I try to just shoot it and I'm not worried about the last few attempts. Everybody else, pretty sure they had the same feeling.”
Caruso left the court in the fourth quarter with what Bulls PR called a right hamstring injury. He returned to the game, but Donovan pulled him out, saying he didn't like the way he was running. The Bulls play again Wednesday against Cleveland.
The Pistons (9-49) should have been the tired team, but they carried plenty of angry energy from the previous night in New York, when they were involved in one of the more controversial finishes of the NBA season.
With Detroit clinging to a 1-point lead in the final seconds, rookie Ausar Thompson appeared to make a game-clinching steal. After deflecting the pass, Thompson chased the ball toward midcourt and collided with the Knicks' Donte DiVincenzo. There was no whistle, Jalen Brunson picked up the loose ball and the Knicks scored the winning basket with 2.8 seconds left.
After the game, crew chief James Williams admitted to a pool reporter a foul should have been called on DiVincenzo and Pistons coach Monty Williams was livid in his postgame news conference.
“You cannot dive into a guy's legs in a big-time game like that and there be a no-call,” Williams said in New York. “It's ridiculous, and we're tired of it. We just want a fair game called. Period. And I got nothing else to say.”
Before the game, Donovan provided an update on Lonzo Ball, who has been sidelined for more than two years while recovering from three knee surgeries. The report is Ball has been jogging, shooting, jumping, but no sprinting yet.
That's because the medical staff wants him to increase his leg strength before moving on to more strenuous activities.
“I think they want him to get to a place physically as it relates to his quad strength, hamstring strength before he starts to really do that (run full speed),” Donovan said. “I wouldn't say it's a hold up, but that's what they want him to get to. In terms of what he's been doing, he feels much better.”
Donovan also said Zach LaVine should be getting the cast off his right foot soon and he hopes eventually, LaVine will be able to spend some time around the team.
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