Bulls Searching for Answers After 113-103 Loss to Nets

The look on Ayo Dosumu's face says it all as the Bulls fall to 9-12 on the season after a 113-103 L to the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night, their 5th straight loss. (Destiny Little)

Like a struggling shooter needing to see a shot go down, the Chicago Bulls, stranded in the wilderness of a four-game losing streak, needed to find pay dirt on Wednesday.

And even for a team whose latest slump included losses to the Indiana Pacers, Charlotte Hornets and New Orleans Pelicans, the Brooklyn Nets, owners of the worst defense in the league, looked like a reasonable enough hurdle for them to climb to get there.

Except, things aren’t always what they seem, particularly for the Bulls, who were missing six players from their rotation. 

A 113-103 loss to the Nets, in a game in which they trailed by as many as 19 points, painted the Bulls into the corner of a season-long five-game losing skid with no clear plan of escape.

“I don’t think we attacked appropriately in the first half at all on offense,” said Billy Donovan, who didn’t have the services of Coby White, Kevin Huerter, Isaac Okoro, Jalen Smith, Tre Jones or Zach Collins. “There was way too much dribbling and trying to drive the ball to the rim where we didn’t finish particularly well. We didn’t really generate a lot of shots for each other.”

“I just believe if you’ve got 10 guys out there and they’re all committed to helping and working with each other, and covering for each other, not saying you’re going to win every game, but you can be in a game.” 

The Bulls closed the gap to as little as six points early in the fourth quarter. But the Nets responded, opening up their largest lead of the game 97-78 on the strength of 7-of-12 shooting from deep. 

Noah Clowney (6) and Michael Porter Jr. (5) combined to make nearly than twice as many threes as the Bulls did as a team (7). Porter Jr., who was 10-of-20 from the field, led all scorers with 33 points. In total, the Nets, who came into the contest attempting the sixth-most threes, but connecting at the sixth-worst rate, outscored the Bulls 57-21 from the behind the arc. 

“I thought at times we gave up too many uncontested ones, Donovan said. “That was the biggest difference, I think.”

Josh Giddey led the Bulls with 28 points to go along with 11 rebounds and 11 assists, marking his fifth triple-double of the season. He also tied a season high with eight free throws. 

Nikola Vučević (16), Ayo Dosunmu (16), Matas Buzelis (14) and Patrick Williams (10) also reached double figures.

With the loss, the Bulls dropped to 9-12 on the season, 6-3 at home and 3-6 against teams below .500.

“We just gotta stick with it, continue to work, continue to believe in what we’re doing,” Vučević said. “We have to figure it out ourselves. Nobody else is going to do it for us.”

The Bulls had as many turnovers (9) as made field goals early in the second quarter, and, after setting a season low for points scored in a half, trailed 54-44 at halftime. 

The Bulls continue their three-game home stand on Friday against the Indiana Pacers, who won the first meeting on a game-winning jumper from Pascal Siakam.