The Chicago Bulls got off to a roaring start on Sunday night. They jumped out to a 30-9 lead over the Brooklyn Nets by the 4:37 mark in the first quarter. Patrick Williams had a hot start, Coby White was cooking, and the Nets couldn’t get anything to fall. Everything was going well… until it wasn’t.
From that point on, the Bulls were outscored 79-109 by Brooklyn, leading to a 109-118 loss. The Nets nailed 25 triples – the most any team has ever made against the Bulls – leading to their monumental comeback. Spencer Dinwiddie, Royce O’Neale, and Lonnie Walker IV all had 20 or more points, and the latter two each hit six threes on the night.
After the game, Bulls big man Nikola Vucevic spoke about the Bulls’ poor defensive effort against Brooklyn.
“We don’t do a good enough job communicating to each other or honoring the call when somebody calls [coverage]. Even if it’s wrong, we have to honor the person who feels that that’s the right call.”
Vooch on defensive breakdowns: "We don’t do a good enough job communicating to each other or honoring the call when somebody calls (coverage). Even if it’s wrong, we have to honor the person who feels that that’s the right call."
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) November 27, 2023
With the loss, the Bulls fell to 5-13 on the season. Not even a hot start could save them from the inevitable truth that it’s time to rebuild.