Following a 46 point explosion by guard Zach LaVine versus the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday, February 10, the Chicago Bulls dropped their 15th game of the season with a 125-106 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, February 12, at the UC.
The Bulls had no answer for Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard, who finished with 33 points in 33 minutes of play.
“Our guys battled,” said Billy Donovan, head coach of the Chicago Bulls via chicagobulls.com. “Obviously there were some lineups out there I thought were hard for us with their size differential and playing over the top of us. We had some breakdowns defensively. They score the ball so well.”
The Clippers outscored the Bulls 30-25 in the first quarter and would eventually build a 58-54 halftime lead. The length of the Clippers defenders posed a threat for the Bulls offense throughout the game. Limiting their perimeter shooters to 37 percent from behind the three-point arc.
In the second half, the Clippers were led by the hot shooting of guard Lou Williams and forward Marcus Morris. Williams would go on a personal scoring streak of his own by posting 11 straight points in the fourth quarter and Morris, who finished with 20 points, added a pair of threes. The Bulls defense had no answer for the Clippers scoring barrage.
“That wasn’t obviously our best moment defensively in our game,” said Bulls guard Tomas Satoransky, via chicagobulls.com. “They kind of take the momentum out of your game. They switch a lot. They have physicality. But that shouldn’t prevent you from cutting and playing hard. When we did that, we did have a couple of layups where we got to the basket, where we found the open shooters. They’re a very physical team that plays a lot of one-on-one basketball. They’re able to shoot tough shots and make them. We tried to play to our identity, which we didn’t.”
Satoransky scored a season high 17 points in the loss and was matched by teammate Coby White, who also scored 17. The lone bright spot for the Bulls was guard Zach LaVine, who finished with 26 points, six assists, and nine rebounds in the loss.
Final Score: Los Angeles 125, Chicago 106.
The loss snapped the Bulls one game winning streak and are now 10-15 on the season.
Chicago Crusader Players of The Game:
Kawhi Leonard, Clippers, game-high 33 points.
Zach LaVine, Bulls, team-high 26 points.
Joseph Phillips is the Sports Editor for the Chicago Crusader Newspaper. He is a Chicago native, who has been a sports writer for over 17 years. He also hosts the SC Media News and Sports Network Q&A radio show on WHPK 88.5 FM Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected].
Joseph Phillips is the Sports Editor for the Chicago Crusader Newspaper. He is a Chicago native, who has been a sports writer for over 17 years. He also hosts the SC Media News and Sports Network Q&A radio show on WHPK 88.5 FM Chicago.
