Presented by Nationwide Insurance Agent Jeff Vukovich
NEW YORK – The Chicago Bulls lost their fourth straight game and their seventh in eight games as the Brooklyn Nets stormed back to prevail 118-109 at Barclays Center on Sunday night.
“It’s hard when you’re 5-13 years old. It’s not what we expected. But it is the reality and we have to deal with it,” said Nikola Vucevic. “The only way out is for us to stick together and try to turn things around. It will not be easy. Our schedule isn’t getting any easier ahead of us either. But we just have to find a way.” . We put ourselves in this situation and we are the only ones who can get ourselves out of it.”
Here are 10 observations about loss:
—The Bulls won the first quarter for the fifth time in 18 games. They also broke the habit of falling behind by double digits in the first quarter. In fact, they opened with a 7-0 run to force a timeout for Nets coach Jacque Vaughn. They extended the run to 13-0, 22-3 and 30-9, which was their largest lead in the first game. That included an 8-of-10 start from 3-point range.
“It felt great,” Zach LaVine said.
—Here coach Billy Donovan spoke before the game about the slow starts.
“We sometimes come into games and see how the game is going. And I don’t think that’s a good thing,” he said. “We have to come out with more strength than we have.
“Vooch and DeMar (DeRozan) are not going to be the up-and-down speed dealers. But there can be more strength within us. It’s not so much that we have to play this racehorse basketball. But there needs to be more strength and physicality at the basket. There needs to be more physicality on screen. There needs to be more physicality on offense rather than “okay.” We have to use force. When we’re down, we come back and play with a certain amount of power.”
—Alex Caruso missed his third game of the season because of the left toe strain that he re-aggravated Friday night in Toronto when Coby White accidentally stepped on Caruso’s foot. Caruso warmed up and tried to play, but Patrick Williams failed to take the lead in Caruso’s absence.
—Williams helped the Bulls get off to an impressive start by scoring 11 points in the first quarter without missing a shot. This included three 3-point shots. Williams approached every shot with confidence and without hesitation. In general, the Bulls did a good job of getting the ball inside either through a pass or penetration and then kicking it to the open throwers. Williams finished with 20 points.
—But the Bulls’ bad quarter came later this time. The Nets opened the second quarter with an 11-1 lead, with Donovan scoring two timeouts within 10 seconds. After the second minute, Donovan Ayo reprimanded Dosunmu for committing a turnover as the guard went to the bench.
“We did everything. You missed everything. We knew it would even out,” Vucevic said. “We just didn’t respond well when that happened.”
—The Nets completely erased their 21-point deficit from the first quarter by opening the second quarter with a 27-5 spurt. And they finished off a string of back-to-back games, but also played at home and beat the Miami Heat on Saturday night. Still, the Bulls fell into bad habits by not getting back in transition and switching to open 3-pointers. Overall, the Nets outscored the Bulls 44-19 in the second half. It was only the second time since 1996-97 that an NBA team led by 20 or more points in the first quarter and trailed by 10 or more points in the second quarter.
“They went into that zone,” LaVine said. “They fired shots. When we got the ball out of the net, it slowed the game down.”
—With a 3-pointer in the second quarter, Coby White became the first player in franchise history to make four or more 3-pointers in five straight games. White has been on fire from beyond the arc lately, increasing his season average to 37 percent early in the game after dipping to 25 percent to start the season. White had sunk 19 of 37 3-pointers in his last four games and went 5 of 12 on Sunday.
—The Nets surpassed their opponents’ season-high 3-pointers with their 21—at the 2-minute, 56-second mark of the third period. The Nets ranked seventh in the league in 3-point attempts and fourth in 3-point attempts made. It’s a big part of their offensive identity. The shocking aspect was how open many of the Nets’ attempts were after the Bulls’ defensive failures.
“We hurt the communication part with a lot of their gaffes,” Donovan said of the changing dynamic in the first half, knocking them down.”
Zach LaVine left Mikal Bridges wide open as he rotated to provide help that Torrey Craig didn’t need. Nikola Vucevic left Spencer Dinwiddie wide open. LaVine and Dosunmu couldn’t communicate and rotate properly.
“A lot of it is communication. We don’t communicate well enough with each other and we don’t answer the phone when someone calls (coverage),” Vucevic said. “Even if it’s wrong, we have to honor the person who feels like that’s the right decision. We need to do a better job of staying on the same page.”
LaVine said sometimes the excessive help comes from a good place because players are trying to support each other.
“We go to the bench and talk all the time,” LaVine said. “We’re talking about it. Look at the things in the film.”
—In fact, the Nets sank the most 3-pointers allowed by the Bulls in franchise history. The Nets finished the game 25:53 from 3-point range. Royce O’Neal and Lonnie Walker IV each sank six. Vaughn used a small lineup most of the game, and the four-guard lineups often put the Bulls in scramble mode with drive-and-kicks and perimeter passes.
—The Bulls shot 4 of 22 from 3-point range after their hot start of 8 of 10 from beyond the arc. DeMar DeRozan led the Bulls with 27 points. White finished the game with 23 points and five 3-pointers.
“The people here are professionals. We’re in a good mood. “Obviously everyone’s frustrated because we’re losing to get through this,” LaVine said. “No one will help us. We understand that.”
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