Bulls fade down stretch and lose again to Warriors
Never underestimate the heart of a champion, right?
Golden State is two years removed from its last championship and bears little resemblance to the dynasty teams. But for the second time in less than two weeks, the Warriors managed to beat the Bulls.
On Friday at the United Center, Golden State threw up a brick wall on defense, held the Bulls to 15 points in the fourth quarter and won 100-98. The Bulls (8-15) missed a chance to stretch their win streak to three games.
The heart of a champion speech was made famous by coach Rudy Tomjanovich when the Houston Rockets won their second straight title in 1995. Bulls coach Jim Boylen was an assistant coach on that team, so the phrase applies to this situation, sort of.
"They put their toughest lineup out there, their most physical guys and it's a tough lineup for us to play against," Boylen said of Friday's fourth-quarter frustration.
There were just 10 points scored during the final five minutes of the game. The Bulls' only field goal during that stretch was a 3-pointer from Lauri Markkanen that tied the score at 97. After an exchange of free throws, Golden State took the lead on an alley-oop dunk by Glen Robinson III off a pass from Draymond Green with 1:03 left.
The play started with a pick and roll with Green and D'Angelo Russell. The Bulls blitzed the screen, which they've done consistently all season, got the ball out of Russell's hands, but left Green free to create a shot. The Warriors' second-to-last basket was a similar Green alley-oop to center Willie Cauley-Stein.
"That's what we felt was the best situation for us, to get the ball out of D-Lo's hands and make somebody else make a play," Boylen said.
Zach Lavine missed a 20-footer, but the Bulls eventually got the ball back with 19.5 seconds left trailing by 2. After a timeout, LaVine dribbled between the circles, twice waved off a screen from Wendell Carter Jr., then launched a 3-pointer that hit the rim just before the final buzzer.
"Obviously, I didn't want to give them another possession," LaVine said. "It was supposed to be me and Lauri in the pick and roll, but Draymond was being that guy to switch and I didn't want to deal with him in the pick and roll. So I rejected it.
"I looked at the clock, it was 3 seconds, I think. I had a good look, I thought it was good. Hit the back of the rim. I thought it was good."
LaVine took the shot without enough time to get a second attempt, but the Bulls didn't get the rebound anyway.
The entire fourth quarter was where the game was lost. After Denzel Valentine hit a 3-pointer to give the Bulls a 92-87 lead with 8:47 left, the Bulls scored 6 points the rest of the way.
Speaking of Valentine, he was ejected with 7:50 left for getting his second technical of the night. He got one late in the third for a verbal altercation with Golden State's Omari Spellman. He yelled something from the bench and was hit with the second technical.
"It was just some friendly trash talk," Valentine said, adding that the comment wasn't directed at a referee. "I didn't think I was going to get ejected. That was my first time ever getting ejected, by the way.
"I'm just playing with passion, playing with emotion. This is what I love to do. It was taken away from me for a year (due to ankle surgery). So I'm playing with passion."
LaVine led the Bulls with 22 points, Markkanen had 20 and Valentine scored 11 points in 14 minutes off the bench. Veteran forward Thaddeus Young missed the game for personal reasons. Boylen said Young will join the team in Miami for Sunday's game.
Twitter: @McGrawDHBulls