Bulls turn from dismal to dazzling during comeback win over Memphis
The Bulls have been known to do some strange things this season.
None of them top what happened Sunday afternoon at the United Center, at least on the positive side.
The Bulls fell behind the hot-shooting Memphis Grizzlies by 23 points in the first half, then played maybe their best third quarter in several years and ended up winning 128-107 for a 44-point turnaround.
That must have been some halftime talk.
"Patrick Beverley is great, he said, 'You have to embrace adversity.' I'm totally in agreement with that," Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. "We've got to embrace this. It's a struggle right now. Things weren't going well."
All the Bulls got off to slow starts, then most rose to the occasion. Zach LaVine finished with 36 points and 9 assists; while DeMar DeRozan added 31 and 7. Coby White continued his recent run of strong all-around play with 19 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
"It was positive talk at halftime," White said. "They hit 13 3s in the first half and we still was only down 15. We wanted to come out in the second half and get three stops in a row and try to make them call the first time out."
It was the right time for a surprising performance against the No. 2 team in the West. With four games left in the regular season, the Bulls (38-40) are on the verge of clinching a spot in the play-in tournament and have a chance to move up one rung in the standings by beating Atlanta at home on Tuesday.
The box score contained some unusual numbers. The Bulls committed just 3 turnovers, tying a franchise low. They led in points off turnovers 31-0, points in the paint 70-36 and fast-break points 28-10.
The Bulls were able to overcome Memphis' big advantage in 3-point baskets by forcing turnovers and creating easy baskets. Alex Caruso recorded three of the Bulls' 9 steals.
"You've got to get stops. You've got guys like Pat and AC flying around there, it allows me and DeMar to play the passing lanes a little bit more," LaVine said. "(Center Nikola Vucevic) out there blocking shots. Even though Vuc don't jump very high, he can still contest shots very well. He's been doing a great job."
All 9 of the Bulls' steals and 29 of their 31 points off turnovers occurred in the second half, when they outscored Memphis 75-39. The Grizzlies (49-29) knocked down 13 of 25 shots from 3-point range in the first half, then just 6 of 18 after intermission. Jaren Jackson Jr. led Memphis with 31 points, while Ja Morant had a triple-double with 17 points, 10 boards and 10 assists.
"I thought our hand activity was so much better in the second half than it was in the first," Donovan said. "When you don't have active hands and high hands, not so much reaching and slapping, but just active hands in pick-and-roll."
White's consistency has been helpful the past few weeks. He's scored in double figures in nine of the last 11 games and has become a much smarter all-around player. He also got more playing time than any Bull during the second half of Sunday's game.
"I think I've just gotten better this year at moving on to the next play whenever I do make a mistake and not letting it linger," White said. "Just experience over time, you kind of get better.
"I just wanted to be better defensively this year. I knew that was the area I lacked. This summer I worked on it a lot. I'm still trying to get better on both ends."
This surge is arriving at a good time, since White is due for a new contract this summer.
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