The Bulls dropped their sixth straight game, a 104-99 loss to the Phoenix Suns, at the United Center. Here are the main observations:
Markkanen's struggles continue: For the fifth straight game, Bulls rookie Lauri Markkanen couldn’t get above the 40 percent mark, going four for 15—with 11 of those shots coming from behind the 3-point line.
Defenses are keying in on him more, taking away his airspace and forcing him to retreat more to the perimeter as opposed to doing anything else. It appears he’s out of his rhythm and teams are unafraid to use smaller players on him on switches, as he hasn’t yet exploited the mismatches.
He’s not hesitating on taking open jumpers, although one would think he would be more aggressive in going to the basket to get himself going.
“Lauri had great looks tonight,” Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. “I thought he had high-quality shots. They didn’t go down for him but they will.”
In his last good game, his career-high 26-point showing against Phoenix nine days ago, he had plenty of variety to his game. He went to the midpost and even hit a few difficult fadeaways, as nine of his 19 shots were two-point attempts.
Tuesday, just four of his 15 came from inside the 3-point line. In his last five games, he’s 17 of 67 (25.3 percent shooting) and 11 of 39 from 3-point range (28 percent).
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His coach is undeterred from the shot selection, though.
“He’s too good a shooter to stay in a slump,” Hoiberg said. “If he’s got open shots, we expect him to take those.”
Playing from behind: Short of a quick start from Kris Dunn, the Bulls found themselves looking up at the Suns most of the night. Dunn was aggressive early, scoring nine of his career-high 24 points in the first quarter as the Bulls once led 18-10.
Dunn and Suns point guard Tyler Ulis certainly had their battles, with the diminutive Ulis making Dunn work and even stripping Dunn in three-quarter court when Dunn got a little casual with the ball.
Ulis scored 14 with six assists and five rebounds while Dunn added eight assists and four rebounds to go with his four turnovers. His last turnover was costly, trying to shovel a pass into Robin Lopez that went to Lopez’ ankles, as Dunn called it “being too modest” as opposed to being aggressive and taking a shot in the paint.
“Coach called me out last game,” Dunn said. “When a coach calls you out, you have to go out there and play as hard as you can. I want to be a point guard in this league, I have to get better each and every game.”
Justin Holiday caught fire to lead the Bulls with 25 points and five assists in 34 minutes, a good sign to see a veteran have a night considering how much the young players look to him for leadership.
It didn’t stop the Bulls from another loss piling up, though.
“You’re never going to be okay with it,” Holiday said. “We’re not just happy to be out in the NBA. It’s a blessing don’t get me wrong, but we play this game to try and win games. We’re going to keep competing.”
The Suns jumped all over the Bulls to start the third and fourth quarters, with a 17-6 spurt in the third and a quick 7-0 run in the fourth to push a slim lead to 80-70.
“We talked about making them call the first timeout,” Hoiberg said. “I’m sick and tired of calling the first timeout in quarters. It’s so hard to continue to climb uphill, especially late in a game like that. Digging the hole early in quarters is costing us right now. We have to get better at that.”
Struggling offensively has been an easy target, as the Bulls shot under 40 percent for most of the game until a late spurt in the fourth brought them back over the hump. With Markkanen going through his woes and Robin Lopez missing 12 of his 16 shots, there’s not much in the way of coaching Hoiberg can do. Sometimes, it’s a make or miss league.
Too many misses from too far away: But…those misses can be exacerbated when they’re all coming from the 3-point line. Markkanen took his share, and he should as he’s growing and learning with experience.
But the Bulls took 40 of their 94 shots from the 3-point line, their second-highest output of the season. Many times it seems they passed up layup opportunities on fast breaks for running to the 3-point line.
Whether it’s by design or the way the game is going as a whole, it seems taking the sure two—or the possibility of one—is being passed over because the team has so much freedom in taking the long ball.
“I’d rather get a layup,” Hoiberg said. “If we can get down the floor fast enough to get those opportunities, if the layup’s not there, the open three is something you want to take. What you don’t want is a long two.”
To be fair, the Bulls caught fire, hitting six of 11 in the fourth to claw back into the game and cutting what was a 94-77 lead down to 102-99 with 22.5 seconds left. When they started the fourth, the Bulls were 10 of 29 from 3-point range and trailed by three. Sometimes, there’s a thought that getting closer to the basket would lead to more free-throw attempts to quell the stench of bad shooting nights.
“It would be good to get some layups when we have numbers,” Hoiberg said. “You have to convert in this league when you have numbers. You have to find a way to get easy baskets, especially when you’re missing shots.”
The Bulls took just 10 free throws, their third-lowest total of the season.
Booker booking the win for the Suns: Suns hot shooting guard Devin Booker is far more known for his offense than defense, with a 70-point scoring night on his ledger before he was legally able to drink.
And he certainly made the Bulls pay with his offense on Tuesday with 33 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Yes, he took nine triples, hitting five but also matched the Bulls at going to the line with 10 free-throws.
But the play of the game came on Dunn after Dunn stripped Suns point guard Tyler Ulis and was headed in for a layup that could’ve brought the Bulls to within three with less than 30 seconds remaining.
Dunn will learn to dunk an easy breakaway next time, as Booker chased him down for a blocked shot with 24.4 seconds left, effectively sealing the game.
“Never quit, that’s the thing,” Suns interim coach Jay Triano said. “He never gave up on it. He’s got a knack for being able to time those plays and that was a heck of a play.”
Booker could be the best shooter in the NBA outside of the Golden State trio of snipers, but if he brings the other side of the floor to match his offensive prowess, he’ll be regarded as an elite player—not just an elite offensive weapon.
Too bad the Bulls had to be a victim on his highlight reel.
