Game Recap: Bulls fall to Nets as defensive issues mount

Matt Marton - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 11 hours ago

CHICAGO - So much for this being the easy part of the Chicago Bulls' (9-12) schedule. Entering what was supposed to be the easiest portion of their schedule with an 8-7 record, the Bulls had an opportunity to right the ship and put together a nice string of wins. It started off fine with a win over the Washington Wizards, but it has gone south since then as the Bulls have now dropped five straight games for the second time this season.

Their most recent loss came Wednesday night at the United Center against another struggling team, the Brooklyn Nets (5-16), as they continued to play well on the road. It's one thing to lose games, but the Bulls' sudden lack of effort on defense is cause for concern, as it often leads to a coach getting fired.

Things may not be at that level quite yet for Billy Donovan, especially with a new contract extension agreed upon last season, but if things don't change soon, those talks will heat up, as the Bulls fell to the Nets 113-103. The 103 points are the second-lowest offensive output for this team, with their lowest coming against the Indiana Pacers last week.

While the Bulls' lack of effort is one thing, this team continues to be hampered by injuries, and that is starting to affect this group, as Isaac Okoro, Coby White, Tre Jones, and Zach Collins remain out. Okoro and Collins may not be seen as major pieces, but not having Jones and arguably your best offensive threat is an issue, as the Bulls need a jolt of life soon.

To get a sense of how things went for the Bulls in this one, look no further than the first quarter, as Josh Giddey, who posted another triple-double with 28 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists, had things going for the offense early as the Bulls raced out to an 11-6 lead. That is when Michael Porter Jr. showed up, and he did, as Porter came out scorching hot, scoring 14 of his team's first 18 points and finishing with a game-high 33 points and 10 boards.

From there, it became a battle of the benches in the first quarter with the Brooklyn bench making an early statement as a pair of threes from Ziaire Williams and Ben Saraf opened up a 29-22 Brooklyn lead, only to have the Bulls pull within 29-24 with the late Jevon Carter layup. As the second quarter got rolling, it was the Nets coming out strong, with Day’Ron Sharpe and Drake Powell pushing the Brooklyn lead to double digits, leaving the Bulls searching for answers.

Fortunately for the Bulls, it was the play of Dalen Terry (6 points) and Patrick Williams (10 points) off the bench that kept Chicago in this one early, as the Bulls were within striking distance to mount a late-half rally. That was until the Nets used an 8-0 run in the later stages of the first half to mount a double-digit lead as Nic Claxton and Porter Jr were starting to heat up, putting the Nets on top of Chicago 54-44 at the half.

Out of halftime, Giddey orchestrated Chicago’s best stretch of the night, repeatedly using ball screens to get downhill for floaters and dump‑offs to Nikola Vucevic, then kicking to Ayo Dosunmu and Julian Phillips for threes and a lob dunk as the Bulls trimmed the Nets' lead back to single digits. After it looked as if the Bulls were gaining the momentum, it was the Nets who had all the answers as they started to connect from distance, hitting 19 of their 46 three-point attempts to maintain an eight-point lead after three.

It was in the fourth quarter when the Nets delivered the knockout blow, as, once again, the Bulls' defense failed to come through when they needed it most. After watching Ayo Dosunmu (16 points), Nikola Vucevic (16 points), and Matas Buzelis (14 points) use one last surge to keep the Bulls within single digits, it was starting to feel like maybe, just maybe, the Bulls were about to find a way to put an end to their skid.

That was until Noah Clowney decided to audition for the three-point contest, knocking down three of his four second-half triples in the quarter to finish with 20 points on six made threes. Egor Demin, Tyrese Martin, and Claxton all added some big buckets following the Clowney barrage as the Nets built up their largest lead of the game at 19 points. Chicago did manage to chip away at that deficit throughout the remainder of the game, but when you lack your best scorer and a defense that can't do anything, the results aren't going to be pretty, as the Bulls fell to the Nets 113-103 for their fifth straight loss.