Bulls Lose Fierce Duel to Spurs, But Hope to Have Markkanen Soon
The Bulls played the San Antonio Spurs on Monday, and it was filled with offense from start to finish. The excitement never took a break, which tends to happen in games with 13 ties and 15 lead changes. But even though the Spurs are far from the perennial championship contender of days gone by, they still have DeMar DeRozan (21 points) and LaMarcus Aldridge (20 points), two players nearly every other team in the NBA would love to have. Combined with 17 points off the bench from Patty Mills, the Spurs hung on to beat the Bulls, 108–107.
Zach LaVine scored a game-high 28 points, catching fire in the fourth quarter by pouring in nine on three straight possessions. However, that was overshadowed by some poor decision-making with time winding down and the Bulls still having a shot. He went against Fred Hoiberg’s wishes and, well, just watch.
But even with that stupidity, Villanova product (not Vanilla, as said by Stacey King in the postgame show), Ryan Arcidiacono gave the Bulls one final sliver of hope. He already had the game of his life with a career-high 22 points and hustle that would make Kirk Hinrich jealous. That persisted until the very end. Though only a few seconds remained, he wouldn’t even let the Spurs shoot free throws to go up three and gave us a heave of desperation.
Elsewhere within the Bulls, Jabari Parker had a decent evening with a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds. Though his defense still isn’t great overall, he’s playing a little more like a well-rounded NBA player. Also, Justin Holiday slowly has come out of nowhere to become one of the most consistent 3-point shooters of the moment. He hit five 3s in this game and finished with 17 points. He made some team history, too.
Still, no matter you spin this, it doesn’t hide the fact that the Bulls remain a young team that severely lacks depth. Their 5–16 reflects who they are and what they’ve had to deal with. The group that passes as the second unit these days has hit a wall, and Hoiberg has been throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. Both the bench lineups and poor results have warranted notice throughout Bulls Nation.
However, there’s reason to hope that help will be on the way soon. It was reported before the game that Lauri Markkanen will have full participation in Tuesday’s practice. If everything goes well, he could play as soon as Dec. 4 against the Indiana Pacers. His presence in Monday’s warmups was encouraging still.
It’s true that Markkanen alone won’t help the Bulls win that many more games. This remains a rebuilding season, and the injuries have caused the Bulls to unwittingly enter another period of tanking. Still, they’ll get a boost and much-needed relief from the return of their best player. It will help to reverse the outcome of games like Monday’s, and the youngest team in the league needs this to happen so it can run with the best of the NBA.
For the second time this month and the final time this season, the Bulls will visit the Milwaukee Bucks at the new Fiserv Forum on Wednesday. Forget that the Bucks staged a huge comeback the last time these teams met. This team the Bulls are set to face is good; it topped the most recent NBA power rankings on Bleacher Report. This would be a tall order even with Markkanen available.
