The Bulls won?
Could the Bulls be…back? (They’re not)
The Chicago Bulls played by far their best game of the season on Friday night, beating the Charlotte Hornets in a nailbiter 123–120. Career performances were aplenty for the Bulls, who gave Charlotte their sixth consecutive loss.
The player of the game for the Bulls was undoubtedly Kris Dunn. He scored a career-high 22 points, shot a perfect 2-of-2 from 3-point range and dished out seven assists. Dunn was ice cold when the game was on the line, splitting the defense and getting to the rim to put the Bulls up late in the fourth quarter. On the defensive end, He nabbed three steals that all turned into easy transition buckets for Chicago. This is the Kris Dunn that intoxicated NBA front offices in the run up to the 2016 NBA Draft. This is the Kris Dunn that Chicago traded Jimmy Butler for back in June. Let’s hope he sticks around for a while.
Justin Holiday was absolutely electric as well, going off for 27 points, just two shy of his career high. He sank four 3s for Chicago and provided solid minutes at the small forward position, allowing Denzel Valentine an opportunity to shine at shooting guard. He did all this after celebrating the birth of his daughter this week. Not a bad showing for a guy who probably hasn’t gotten much sleep the last few days.
Chicago trailed the Hornets for most of the second half, thanks in large part to 47 points from Kemba Walker. Charlotte is usually heavily dependent on Walker’s scoring, but Friday night was an especially extreme example. The Bulls had kept it close all game, threatening with ball movement and hot hands everywhere. A Kris Dunn 3-pointer tied the game at 98 about halfway through the fourth quarter, and after several tense minutes of back-and-forth, five straight points from Holiday gave Chicago a six-point lead that they managed to keep for the rest of the game. Two free throws from Lauri Markkanen sealed the game for the Bulls.
This was a best-case scenario kind of night for the Bulls. They shot 17-of-34 from long range, they had 26 assists, and everyone was seeming to have the best night of their careers. It’s difficult to say if they were locked in on defense or if the Hornets sans Kemba Walker just couldn’t score, but either way it was helpful. In other words, it wasn’t a win that showcased anything particularly sustainable. In a way, that’s really the best outcome. For a night, we got to see dynamic offense and a close game that went the Bulls way, but it won’t mean so many wins that their draft position is ruined come June. Chicago will likely continue to be really, really bad, closer to their 7-point first quarter from Thursday night than their heroics on Friday night. No matter what it is, we’ll be here to analyze and make Jordan Bell related jokes about it. Until then.
