The Bulls won and no one knows how to feel
The Chicago Bulls have four wins this season, and two of them have come against the Charlotte Hornets. The Bulls won a nailbiter in overtime 119–111, thanks in large part to 24 points from Lauri Markkanen and 20 points from Kris Dunn. Throughout most of the evening, it seemed certain that Chicago was in for another last-second dagger from their opponent (see: Will Barton, De’Aaron Fox). This time, however, the odds were in their favor, or maybe they weren’t. I don’t know I’m not sure how to feel right now.
Even with an extra win, Chicago is still a full game ahead of the Atlanta Hawks in the 2017–18 Final Countdown Tankapalooza. The Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings have seven and eight wins, respectively, so they’re basically title contenders compared to the Bulls right now. So seeing as the team’s still solidly in No. 1 pick territory, I think it’s completely justified to be excited about the performances from Markkanen and Dunn last night.
It was extremely close all game, with each team essentially taking turns being up by 4 then turning the ball over twice and erasing the lead. Chicago headed to the locker room at halftime tied 52–52, and neither team would pull away until the Bulls finally managed it in the final minute of overtime. Maybe the most consequential part of the night was that Nikola Mirotic and Bobby Portis played in an NBA game together. They even high fived, much to the excitement of NBA Twitter. Mirotic had a decent showing in his season debut, scoring six points on 2-of-7 shooting and grabbing three rebounds, but the fact that he and Portis co-existed peacefully is a victory in and of itself, especially with Portis pulling this nonsense:
What a hot dog.
Who knows if the Bulls front office will still feel out the market on a Mirotic deal. I would be shocked if there aren’t any teams interested. The Brooklyn Nets are stocking up on 2015 draft picks that didn’t exactly pan out, so maybe they’d be willing to go back another year.
Lauri Markkanen flashed back to his absurd start of the season, dropping 24 and 12 and shooting 3-of-5 from 3-point range. We’re not even two months into his NBA career, and there’s no question that Markkanen is the best clutch scorer on this team. Sure, that may be a fairly low bar, but the Finnisher is the real deal. Kris Dunn chipped in with the third 20-point game of his career, showcasing an encouraging amount of aggression and athleticism. He needs to seriously tighten up his handle and maybe take it easy on the one-handed passes, but Dunn is absolutely an NBA point guard and a defensive menace. Count me in on team Dunn going forward.
The Bulls take on the New York Knicks tonight back in the United Center, and maybe they’ll start their first winning streak of the season. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though.
