The Chicago Bulls fell behind by as many as 19 points in the third quarter of Friday's home matchup with the Orlando Magic, and looked listless doing it.
A furious comeback ensued, but foibles in the final seconds — and heroics by Magic guard Jalen Suggs — culminated in a 108-107 Orlando victory, raising the Bulls' losing streak to four and dropping their season-long record to 6-10.
Here are 10 observations:
1. Billy Donovan spent the majority of a 16-minute pregame session with reporters calling on his "Big Three" of DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vučević to raise their level and the level of those around them when asked about the Bulls' trend of slow starts.
It didn't work.
No, the 4-11 Orlando Magic, playing without their leading scorer in Paolo Banchero, jumped out to a 37-24 lead in the first 12 minutes, capped in excruciating fashion by a 34-foot buzzer beater by Wendell Carter Jr. to stretch the visitors' lead to 13.
2. Forty-seven seconds into the second quarter, Carter uncorked a thunderous right-handed dunk on a free drive to the rim and prompted a quick Donovan timeout. The fifth-year center has never hid his desire to beat up on his former team whenever he faces them; Carter entered play averaging 21.8 points and 9.4 rebounds in five career games since being traded by the Bulls in March 2021.
In this one, he notched 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Let's just say he was in a groove.
3. The Bulls fell behind by as many as 19 in the third quarter, and had their share of ugly moments out of the halftime locker room, from a barrage of missed 3-pointers to Suggs authoritatively smothering a Vučević layup attempt at the rim.
But the Bulls closed the frame on an 18-7 run to trim to just an 87-79 deficit entering the fourth. Credit the energy of Javonte Green, pace of Goran Dragić and shotmaking of DeRozan for that.
4. Green logged a DNP in the first half as Donovan opted for Derrick Jones Jr. for the first run at backup power forward. But when the Bulls' coach turned back to Green, the team's consummate energy guy, in a time of need, he completely changed the game, tallying eight points, three steals and a +17 plus-minus in the second half alone.
Flashes in the third quarter included pulling down a contested rebound and outlet passing to an Alex Caruso layup, plus a gravity-defying alley-oop finish from Dragić. He also poked free three steals in the first four-and-a-half minutes of the fourth quarter as the Bulls inched closer and closer.
Then, Green played all but eight seconds of the fourth, with his finest sequence a cutting layup and fastbreak tomahawk in the final minute. Those buckets turned a 103-103 tie into a 107-103 Bulls lead with 26.5 seconds to play. The United Center, which was pin-drop quiet much of the night, was thrown into a frenzy.
5. DeRozan, meanwhile, matched his 15 first half points in the third quarter alone, entering the fourth with 30 on 11-for-20 shooting. With LaVine struggling, it was he who closed the period staggered alongside the Bulls' trusty reserves. In fact, he played all 24 minutes of the second half.
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In the fourth, DeRozan added 11 points to finish with 41 on 16-for-29 shooting. His damage was mostly done from the midrange and goading Orlando's capable — but inexperienced — stable of wing defenders into fouls using pump-fakes.
6. Even in the scope of an uninspiring team-wide performance, LaVine's night was particularly brutal. He missed nine of his 10 field goal attempts in the first half, including 0-for-3 from 3-point range and a wide open short-armed layup early in the second quarter. That skid climbed to missing 13 of his 14 shots for the night, making him just the sixth Bull in history to shoot 1-for-14 or worse in a game and the first since 1999.
More newsworthy, with 3:43 left in the fourth quarter and the Bulls trailing by four, Donovan yanked LaVine in favor of Ayo Dosunmu, leaving Dosunmu, Caruso, DeRozan, Green and Vučević on the floor. The Bulls' coach wasn't kidding about holding his best players accountable, as LaVine remained on the bench for the entirety of the stretch run, even as the Bulls attempted to ice the contest with free throws in the final seconds.
7. Speaking of that: With 12.2 seconds left and the Bulls ahead 107-105, Vučević stepped to the free throw line and clanked both off back iron. Suggs immediately sprinted up court and drilled a dagger 3-pointer, which DeRozan attempted to answer with a missed heave, as neither team had timeouts left to spend.
In that split-second, the game was lost. And it was poetic in the cruelest way, considering it was the Bulls' trade for Vučević that catalyzed this era of the franchise.
8. The Magic, a young team, were noticeably affected by officiating throughout, culminating in Franz Wagner (20 points) fouling out in the final minute of the fourth. They also committed 12 turnovers in the second half leading to 25 Bulls points.
All of which is to say: The game was there for the Bulls' taking, although they did themselves no favors by digging themselves yet another big hole.
9. But one month in the season, the Bulls remain the only NBA team without a "clutch" win, defined by NBA.com as contests within a five-point margin with five minutes or less to play. They are now 0-7 in such games this season.
10. Coby White checked in for his first stint at the 8:35 mark of the second quarter, returning from an eight-game absence with a left quad contusion. He assisted a Dosunmu corner 3-pointer, but also committed a fastbreak turnover to Suggs and missed a 3-point attempt in that stint. He did not play in the second half.
Next up for the Bulls: Home for the Boston Celtics on Monday.