Bulls observations: LaVine, White find groove in victory originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Bulls rebounded in the second game of their preseason slate with a 104-91 victory over the Houston Rockets. Here’s what stood out:
The backcourt settles in
Coby White’s stat line ended positive (15 points, six assists) in the Bulls’ preseason opener, but he was hard on himself in the aftermath, rating his performance a “3 or 4” on a 10-point scale.
He posted a well-rounded overall performance in game two. Once again, he took a few early lumps from John Wall (who continues to look springy after his long layoff) on the defensive end -- and picked up two fouls in the first quarter. But he bounced back on that end to the tune of two charge-draws and a block on Wall by halftime.
And on the offensive end, White flashed some encouraging decision-making chops, notching three helpers in the first half en route to five on the night. This screen-and-roll pick-out of Lauri Markkanen was the prettiest, but there were a few nifty finds that didn’t culminate in buckets too:
Two unsightly third-quarter turnovers brought him to four for the evening, which smudge his final statline. But he also heated up from deep in the second half, canning all three of his 3-point attempts and leading a plucky reserve lineup to a seven-point fourth-quarter lead before checking out for the final time on the heels of a 13-0 run and with 20 points to his name.
Zach LaVine, meanwhile, flew somewhat under the radar, but notched the line of the night with 23 points to lead all scorers on 8-for-14 shooting (3-for-7 from deep) with six free throw attempts. Nine boards and five assists too. A typically easy-seeming outing.
Quick takes on the rest of the core
- Wendell Carter Jr. is playing aggressive, but the results aren’t there through two preseason games. He missed his first five shots of the night -- three of them floaters set up by White, one a badly-missed 3 -- before throwing down this alley-oop from Lauri Markkanen on the back-end of a wholly tantalizing 4-5 pick-and-roll:
He ended with seven points on 3-for-11 shooting (1-for-4 from deep), and is now 1-for-9 from 3-point range in the preseason. The looks are good, but again, not falling. Three assists are something of a silver lining.
- Markkanen missed his first six shots before converting the above lay-in off a dish for White. That would be his only field goal of the night. He struggled through a 1-for-10 shooting performance from the field (0-for-5 from 3-point range) and took a shot midway through the third quarter that ended his night.
- Patrick Williams continues to excel in subtle ways. He swiped three steals in his first nine minutes of game action -- largely a product of disruptive length and uncanny alertness off-the-ball. His only two points of the first half came on free throws he earned on the back of a deft dive cut and he buried a catch-and-shoot 3s in the third and fourth quarters. Four turnovers and 4-for-11 shooting from the field mark room for improvement.
- Otto Porter Jr. logged a steady 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting to follow his 3-for-6 outing in game one. His work on the glass early stood out early, and he ended with seven boards.
Each of the starters’ minutes totals went up from the first Rockets game to the second. Billy Donovan trotted that unit out for the first six-and-a-half minutes of the second half, and they rode hot long-range shooting to flip a three-point halftime deficit to a one-point advantage.
Upward trends
The Bulls’ offense hummed considerably smoother in this game than the first. They ended the night with 26 assists on 37 made field goals, and outshot the Rockets from the field and 3-point range. The enhanced ball and player movement that’s been billed stood out, and came to fruition more often than in game one.
The defense, too, while experiencing its moments of disconnection, was better engaged. The Bulls won the glass by 10 and the foul disparity by six, both markers of increased physicality.
Ceding 17 turnovers, and 25 points off them, show there are still growing pains to work through. But steps in the right direction abound.
Notable absences
Tomas Satoransky, Luke Kornet, Devon Dotson and Noah Vonleh were all late scratches for the contest -- the former three officially with "excused absences." Billy Donovan said pregame that Vonleh is "in NBA protocol." Updates to come on that front.
No hard feelings
Once upon a time, before the Bulls pivoted to pursuing Billy Donovan for their head coaching vacancy, current Rockets coach Stephen Silas was part of a lengthy list of candidates for the position.
Before tip-off Sunday, Silas sang the new front office’s praises based on a Zoom meeting he conducted with them while an assistant on Rick Carlisle’s Dallas Mavericks staff in the Orlando bubble.
“I had a great meeting with those guys (Artūras Karnišovas and Marc Eversley),” Silas said. “It was tough because I was in the bubble, it was via Zoom. So, it's kind of hard to, as you can see right here, it's hard to connect and really get a feel for people and eye contact and the little cues that you get when you're sitting face-to-face with somebody.
“But the plan that they had, the questions that they had were really good, and it seems like they're very organized and have a plan in place as to how they want to do things here, and I really enjoyed my time on the Zoom call with those guys. And I think they made a great choice in Billy, Billy's a really good coach. And, you know, hopefully we'll get ’em tonight, but I'm cheering for those guys because they were good to me in the interview process and they're great.”
Narrator: The Rockets did not, in fact, get them tonight. Next up for the Bulls: a road date with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Donovan’s old squad, on Tuesday
