The Chicago Bulls faced the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night. It was the first time the Ball brothers would face off this season—a much anticipated matchup. It is time to give Lavar Ball his flowers since he was indeed right. Both of his boys are playing great basketball & have great potential. The Hornets are one of the most explosive & fun teams in the NBA, similarly to Chicago. They have great talent in LaMelo, Miles Bridges, Gordon Hayward & other players like PJ Washington & Terry Rozier. They get out quick in transition & love shooting the three ball—all which was displayed that night. The Bulls would definitely be able to match their energy which would provide for a fun game. The Bulls looked almost flawless throughout the game except for the beginning & the end. They gave us a scare by letting the Hornets claw their way back into the game but it was good to see the Bulls finish, even though things like that need to stop occurring. It was a beauty to see Vooch finally get going & get into the groove of things, scoring a team-high 30 points. The triple threat of Zach, DeMar & Vooch all scoring twenty-plus with Lonzo sprinkling in 16 points is exactly the full potential of the Bulls. This led to a season-high scoring effort of a total of 133 points.
The Chicago Bulls started off well with Zo leading the way with a couple threes & great ball movement. They went to Vooch early as well with different post up variations & pick & roll options-- something they need to do often. Once the inside game is established, the Bulls can start spreading their game out to the outside. Their defensive intensity was great as the crowd cheered anytime the Ball brothers guarded one another; the Bulls were rotating on defensive well & forced turnovers throughout the whole game. Then PJ Washington came in & scored four straight three-pointers on the pick & roll—exposing Vooch on the defensive end. As usual, there wasn’t an adjustment made right away giving away the Bulls 9-point lead & letting the Hornets get out on a small run. The Hornets ended up taking a one-point lead at the end of the first. The Bulls then had a great second quarter, scoring 39 in just that quarter alone. The ball was moving beautifully with the Bulls finishing the game with a season-high of 35 assists. Everyone took turns scoring the ball & suffocated the Hornets on defense. Everyone was finding & hitting good shots led by Vooch. He scored 8 points in the frame, finishing it off with a three-pointer at the end of the half. The Bulls took an 11-point lead going into the half.
The Bulls continued to stay hot as they entered the third quarter, with the long-distance shots cashing in. Five three-pointers in a quarter may seem rather small but you have to consider that the Bulls aren’t really a three-point shooting team, sitting towards the bottom of the league in that regard. Vooch continued to play well as he scored twelve points in the quarter & Zach dropped in nine. The ball movement remained amazing as the Bulls consistently got open looks & had 10 assists in the quarter. They continued to rebound & play great defense to take complete control of the game. The Bulls were up by 29 at the end of the third quarter. Then the Bulls went on to do something we’ve seen for years; a habit I was hoping they’d drop this year—blowing a lead. The Hornets seemed to catch the Bulls off guard with their energy in the beginning of the fourth quarter. Their offense became stagnant & the players seemed to be afraid of the moment by passing up open looks. The Bulls managed to score six points in almost 6 minutes in the beginning of the quarter while the Hornets were clicking on all cylinders with 21 points scored in the same time span. The Hornets were able to bring a 29-point lead down to four points...FOUR POINTS. Billy Donovan then called a timeout; the timeout clearly worked as the Bulls proceeded to go on an 11-2 run to regain control of the game. Then as one of the best fourth quarter teams in the NBA, the Bulls were able to close out the game strong—sealing the win.
It was great to see all the Bulls players get going. After struggling the first few games & then getting COVID, it was a pleasant sight to see Vooch get going offensively. He made big plays defensively later on as well; when the buckets start falling, you automatically start doing other things better. DeMar & Zach continued to do their own thing as they hit tough buckets when they were needed. Lonzo came out on top against his younger brother. Billy Donovan called a solid game as they Bulls were able to defeat the zone defense & move the ball well to hit good shots. It was a team they should have beaten & they did. They face the New York Knicks tonight for their third matchup of the season. The Knicks are struggling way more than anyone would have imagined; the starting lineup isn’t playing well & Thibs just announced that not only is Kemba Walker out of the starting lineup, he’s out of the whole rotation! The Bulls just have to fight tough & deal with the physical brand of basketball that the Knicks have patented. With Coby White getting COVID, the Bulls will need some spark off the bench, hopefully through the likes of Ayo, DJJ & Javonte—Caruso is a given. Let’s see the Bulls start off December with a solid win.
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