Markkanen shines, but Bulls can't execute late in loss to Suns
The Bulls seemed excited to be playing the NBA's worst defensive team on Sunday. They piled up 37 points in a fast-moving first quarter against the Phoenix Suns.
As the night wore on, the Bulls got a little too anxious to shoot. Sloppy offense and hurried shots ended up resulting in a 113-105 loss at Talking Stick Resort Arena.
Lauri Markkanen, back in his college home of Arizona, produced his best game of the season, finishing with 26 points and 13 rebounds, but the Bulls (3-11) struggled to score late in the contest.
“To be honest with you, I thought we took a lot of rushed, contested shots tonight, after a really good offensive performance in the last game (a win over Charlotte),” coach Fred Hoiberg told reporters after the game. “I thought we just tried to come down and we were jacking up shots. Anytime we moved it and got the ball side to side, we got a good look.”
Markkanen has been the Bulls' most consistent player this season. As he gets more comfortable with NBA defenders and the longer 3-point line, these kinds of nights should become routine. The Finland native spent one season at the University of Arizona before turning pro.
“I thought Lauri was phenomenal, but when he's open, we've got to get him the ball,” Hoiberg said. “When he's got it rolling like he did tonight, when they're switching, we had him a couple times where he had a point guard buried on his back and we didn't get him the ball in the high-low.”
Kris Dunn continued to be on the upswing, but had one regrettable mistake late in the game. Coming off the best performance of his two-year NBA career on Friday, Dunn finished with 17 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds, 4 turnovers and 2 steals in Phoenix.
Turnovers have been a problem for Dunn, though, and with 1:13 left in the game, he dribbled into the frontcourt and tossed a behind-the-back pass toward Justin Holiday that sailed out of bounds, nowhere close to the intended target. The Bulls trailed 108-103 at the time and the mistake didn't cost them the game, but it did ruin their best chance at comeback.
“That can't happen,” Hoiberg said. “We had two guys open over there, two of our better shooters, and we throw it out of bounds. The next possession down, we had another shooter open in the corner and we couldn't make the play. So we had two key turnovers late that just can't happen if you want to win a game like this on the road.”
Still, Dunn seems to be gaining confidence. He's hitting outside shots, playing aggressive defense and using his athleticism to attack the basket.
“I thought Kris was really good,” Hoiberg said. “He made the one (bad) play, but that's part of the learning curve with Kris. He hasn't been in a lot of those situations. For him, part of the learning curve and part of the growing process is to go out there and make the right play, especially late.”
Robin Lopez added 16 points and Holiday scored 13 for the Bulls, who hit 12 of 36 shots from 3-point range. Forward T.J. Warren led the Suns with 27 points.
Twitter: @McGrawDHBulls