10 observations: Pelicans rout Bulls for 3rd straight loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
After a 124-110 loss to the Pelicans in New Orleans on Wednesday night, the Chicago Bulls have lost three straight games and five of their last six, dropping them to 6-9 on the season.
The last two defeats have come in blowout fashion.
Here are 10 observations:
1. The Pelicans, which entered play seventh in the NBA in 3-point percentage (37.5), shot a woeful 3-for-19 from that distance last Wednesday at the United Center, when they beat the Bulls 115-111. But positive regression came early and often on Wednesday.
In the first quarter, New Orleans made five of its six 3-point attempts, shooting 6-for-11 in the first quarter overall, en route to building as much as an eight-point lead in the first 12 minutes. In the first 99 seconds of the third, Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum and Trey Murphy (19 points, 5-for-6 from deep) each netted triples to make a five-point halftime lead 14 in a hurry.
In all, New Orleans shot 17-for-33 (51.5 percent) from distance compared to 11-for-32 (34.4 percent) by the Bulls, an 18-point difference in a 14-point loss. The Bulls entered play shooting 28.6 percent from 3-point range in their last three games.
2. Zach LaVine staggered alongside the Bulls' second unit continued to find success in the first half. Donovan turned to a five-man unit of LaVine, Goran Dragić, Alex Caruso, Javonte Green and Andre Drummond at the 3:03 mark of the first quarter, with the Bulls trailing 26-20. By the 10:14 mark of the second — and with Derrick Jones Jr. spelling Green at the turn of the quarter — the visitors had pulled ahead 37-32 behind active defense and high-octane, ball-pinging offense.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter.
The unit of LaVine, Dragić, Caruso, Green and Drummond entered play +10 in nine minutes together this season; and in 28 minutes with Jones instead of Green, +33. Those are two the Bulls' five best five-man lineups by total plus-minus.
3. LaVine, who is still finding his footing after offseason knee surgery, had three encouragingly explosive finishes at the rim in the first half. First, there was an acrobatic up-and-under and a blow-by of Larry Nance Jr. in the first quarter. Then, there was the above fastbreak slam in the second.
But ultimately, it was a nondescript performance. LaVine finished with 25 points on 9-for-22 shooting (4-for-11 from 3-point range), but that line was aided by 14 points and three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter while the game was out of reach. And in the second half, he did not find as much success inside, shooting 0-for-3 in the paint and getting blocked by Pelicans rookie Dyson Daniels on a layup attempt early in the fourth.
The Bulls can only hope that fourth quarter flurry, while non-impactful on this night, gets LaVine rolling on a consistent basis moving forward.
Local
4. DeMar DeRozan scored nine points on 3-for-6 shooting in the first half and picked up his third foul late in the second quarter. As the game was slipping away from the Bulls in the third, he put his head down and scored 10 points while making five of his six shots (finished with 28 points on 11-for-15 shooting).
5. But still, that was the quarter in which the Pelicans won the game. The aforementioned 3-point flurry by Ingram, McCollum and Murphy eventually gave way to New Orleans winning the third 37-25, shooting 6-for-11 from 3-point range and drawing 10 free throw attempts. Funny enough, the Bulls entered play with the second-best third quarter point differential in the NBA, a statistic Wednesday night's performance douses in ice water.
By the beginning of the fourth, when the hosts pulled ahead by as many as 26, it was an evisceration of drives, cuts and open jump shots. The Pelicans surely were hot from long range, but the Bulls' defense did them no favors, allowing 50 percent shooting for the third straight game and 30 assists.
6. Billy Donovan has made a point to emphasize the Bulls' turnover issues of late, particularly in transition. In his eyes, it is a major factor in the team's offensive rating lagging behind expectation early in the season.
Ball security was not as much of an issue on paper on Wednesday, as the Bulls finished with just 12 turnovers, well below their average of 18.3 over their last six games. But 10 of those turnovers came in the first half, and some were careless, like Patrick Williams closing a solid defensive possession on Ingram with a defensive rebound and laser straight out of bounds trying to push the ball up floor to DeRozan.
7. Dragić (six points, seven assists in 20 minutes) again outplayed starting point guard Ayo Dosunmu (four points, 0-for-3 from 3-point range). And with the Bulls' starting unit getting blitzed to start the first and third quarters, pondering a lineup change is reasonable.
But be warned: The Bulls have projected since training camp that they will manage Dragić's minutes carefully this season; the 36-year-old entered play averaging 19.6 for the season and has touched 25 just twice. Plus, the Bulls' problems — defensive focus, ball security, shooting, among others — run deeper than lineup tweaks.
8. In the first half, there appeared to be an intention to involve Nikola Vučević. He entered the break with a team-high 12 points on 5-for-10 shooting, 2-for-4 from 3-point range. But he finished with 14 points and 10 boards and was again largely outplayed by Jonas Valančiūnas, who was a dominant physical presence on the interior and finished with 22 points and seven rebounds.
9. Midway through the fourth quarter, with the game all but decided, Williams looked to tweak his right ankle fighting over a screen. Donovan called a timeout and immediately substituted him. Stay tuned for updates here. Williams supplied some solid defense on Ingram (4-for-15 shooting) but notched just five points and four rebounds in this one.
10. Bulls fans are certainly entitled to frustration that this loss came with Zion Williamson, who missed his second straight game with a right foot contusion, out. But the fact is this Pelicans team is plenty fierce even shorthanded.
This victory moved the Pelicans to 3-1 without Williamson this season, including wins over the Mavericks and Grizzlies. And they of course ran through the play-in tournament and took two games from the Phoenix Suns in the first round of last year's playoffs without their superstar forward.
Next up for the Bulls: Back home to face the Orlando Magic on Friday.
Click here to follow the Bulls Talk Podcast.
