Dinwiddie makes Bulls pay for mistake, leads Brooklyn to victory
The Bulls have made plenty of personnel mistakes in recent years. One returned to the United Center to haunt them on Wednesday.
Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie has established himself as a rising star, going as far to outwardly campaign for the NBA's Sixth Man Award.
Dinwiddie scored 27 points as the Brooklyn Nets won their seventh game in a row, beating the Bulls 96-93. Kris Dunn tried to make up the point guard deficit, finishing with 24 points to lead the Bulls.
But the home team couldn't execute down the stretch. After Brooklyn's Joe Harris scored with 43 seconds left to put the Nets up by 1, Dunn was called for an illegal screen while trying to execute a handoff.
After the Bulls forced a 24-second violation, they got another chance with 8.4 seconds left. This time, they couldn't get the ball to Dunn, with Justin Holiday losing control of it while trying to hand it to Dunn. Two free throws later, the game was over.
"It's the NBA. It's tough," Dunn said. "You can play a great basketball game and still lose. We're going to watch the film tomorrow and see what happened and try not to make that mistake again."
Turnovers have been a problem for the Bulls (7-25). They had just 9 against the Nets, but two in a row with the game on the line. Likewise, the Bulls gave up a relatively-low 7 offensive rebounds, but three of those happened in the final two minutes.
Another problem was shot distribution. Lauri Markkanen scored 8 points in the first quarter, then took just 1 shot the rest of the game and never scored.
"I'm not worried about that right now," Markkanen said. "It's still a new system and everybody is trying to figure it out. Of course I think I could do more to help the team. But that's how it is right now."
The Bulls actually made a smart trade in the summer of 2016, sending Cameron Bairstow to Detroit for Dinwiddie. He played well in preseason for the Bulls, but his contract wasn't guaranteed. So the Bulls decided to hang on to Michael Carter-Williams, take a look at R.J. Hunter and released Dinwiddie.
The 6-6 guard from Colorado played with the Windy City Bulls for about a month, then was signed by the Nets and the rest is history. Bulls fans don't need to be reminded how Carter-Williams and Hunter worked out.
"I just had a cup of coffee here. It's not like they drafted me and traded me or all that other stuff," Dinwiddie said after the game. "It's not the same situation. I've got a lot of love for those guys over there. Nate Loenser, my Windy City Bulls head coach, was instrumental in getting me back to the NBA."
It's too late for the Bulls to reel Dinwiddie back into their boat. So they tried to counter with newer acquisitions. Shaquille Harrison played extended minutes and scored 13 points as top scorer Zach LaVine missed his third straight game with an ankle injury. Ryan Arcidiacono was back in double figures with 10 points.
Dunn put the Bulls ahead 93-91 with 3:02 left on a driving layup, but they didn't score again. Harrison harassed Dinwiddie to help force the 24-second violation that gave the Bulls a chance to win.
Bobby Portis (16 points, 11 rebounds) sprained his ankle at some point in the game, but there was no immediate word on his status.
Twitter: @McGrawDHBulls