Bulls Entertain, But Can’t Defeat Warriors

Chicago fought the good fight, but ultimately fell 119–112

Throughout the first quarter of Wednesday’s game against the defending champion Golden State Warriors, the Bulls were out to prove they would make the next 48 minutes interesting.

Bulls castoff Jordan Bell was knocked out on the first possession, landing awkwardly on his left ankle trying to block a thunderous Robin Lopez dunk. The worst was feared after Bell was taken back to the locker room in a wheelchair, but it only came back as a sprain.

Not long after, Stephen Curry had a shot blocked by Lauri Markkanen right back in his own face, leading to the creation of a gif that quickly went viral.

To end the first quarter, the Bulls scored four points in 9.1 seconds when they caught the Warriors napping both with and without the ball. The hustle of Denzel Valentine and David Nwaba gave them a slim lead.

Despite that early fun, it wasn’t enough in a 119–112 Bulls loss that featured one run after another. The aforementioned first-quarter ending was part of a 17–0 run. That was followed by an 8–0 Warriors run before the Bulls went on a 12–0 run. But the champs had a 19–0 run in the third quarter, which erased most doubt on who was going to win.

While the Bulls were making a final push that proved futile, Kris Dunn dunked off a steal, but slipped as he came back down and hit the floor hard. He started bleeding from his mouth, a result of two chipped and dislocated teeth, and headed back to the locker room. Though he was cleared of concussion symptoms, it signaled the final death knell for the Bulls in this game. Here it is in its unappealing glory:

I don’t think you have to guess who led the Warriors to their team record-tying 14th straight road win, but I’ll share it with you anyway. Klay Thompson led the charge with 38 points, including seven 3-pointers. Curry trailed his fellow Splash Brother by scoring 30, knocking down six 3s, and Kevin Durant had 19. He might have done more damage, but Nwaba did as well as he could while guarding him, further opening people’s eyes to how valuable this undrafted second-year player is.

Nikola Mirotic played his normal role of big scoring threat off the bench, leading the Bulls with 24 points in 27 minutes. Six of Lopez’s 16 came on three thunderous dunks in the first half, including on the aforementioned first Bulls possession as well as the second. Dunn had 16 before coming out, Bobby Portis had 12, Lauri Markkanen totaled 11, and Valentine ended with 10. Zach LaVine, in what could be the final game of his 20-minute limit, took a step back with only five points on 2-of-12 shooting from the field.

It’s not often we get to say in all honesty that a loss was entertaining, but this measuring-stick contest was one instance. The Bulls did everything they could to keep the Warriors on their toes for almost the entire game. The only keep that really prevented a victory was the talent discrepancy between the teams. To be fair though, it’s difficult to keep up when your opponent contains two, possibly three future Hall of Famers in their primes.

Also not helping the Bulls’ cause was the 32–12 deficit they suffered in the third quarter. But it made sense because the Warriors entered the game averaging 30.6 points in the frame, their highest scoring one. Still, it was a reminder to the Bulls that this is a team you can’t get into a shooting match with at anytime. If you ever slow down, it will be over.

The Bulls have a couple of days off before returning to game action Saturday. They’ll hit the road to face the Atlanta Hawks, one of the leading contenders to get the top pick in this year’s draft. Remember when the Bulls could be placed in that category? Now that they’ve proven they won’t simply roll over for anybody, they might not even need to be in that spot.

It’s time for the teams that haven’t to start giving the Bulls the respect they deserve. You don’t simply luck into a 14–8 record over the past month-and-a-half. There’s some good young talent on this team that just so happened to need its veteran bench player to give it a spark. While it may lead to more losses in the months ahead, the Bulls can eventually head into the offseason knowing they made themselves known at a time before anyone perceived them as a threat to anything, even in the spoiler role.