The Chicago Bulls snapped their six-game losing streak with a 115-107 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday, April 4, at the United Center.
The Bulls were led by the hot shooting of guard Zach LaVine and center Nikola Vucevic, who combined for 47 points in the contest. LaVine led all scorers with 25 points and Vucevic added 22.
“We understand it’s going to take some time,” said Vucevic via ESPN. “We’ve had some guys out of the lineup.”
Sunday afternoon versus the Nets was Vucevic’s 5th game as a Bull. His 22 points and 13 rebounds propelled the team to its 20th win of the season. The two-time All-Star said it’s been a positive experience for him since joining the team.
“What I really like is it’s a motivated group of guys and they want to win,” said Vucevic via ESPN. “It’s all been positive. Hopefully, we can grow together and get some wins.”
Vucevic and LaVine took turns scoring against the Nets defense on Sunday. The two made 18 field goals in 67 minutes of play. Both demonstrated amazing playing skills.
In addition to Vucevic’s and LaVine’s performances, Bulls point guard Tomas Satoransky scored 19 points and dished out 11 assists in the team’s win.
“Stylistically, we’ve completely changed the way we played in a week’s period,” said Bulls coach Billy Donovan via chicagobulls.com. “The ball is going through our frontcourt.
I give the guys a lot of credit from the perspective they know the trade (three of whom had major roles in the victory) has made us more talented. It’s made us bigger and it’s made us more physical. They (players) also knew it was going to take a little time.
Everybody has been disrupted by it. There’s no getting around it. But I say disrupted and it’s a positive thing from the standpoint of we have to reinvent ourselves of how we need to play.”
“We’re a lot different than what we were when the season started,” Donovan said via chicagobulls.com. “Vooch has a lot of length out there and physicality. So does Daniel (Theis). Lauri (Markkanen off the bench at small forward) is a really long guy. Troy (Brown Jr. closing the game for defense) is a wing player who’s got length. The team is totally different, but I say that in a very positive way.”
Final Score: Bulls 115, Nets 107.
With the win, the Chicago Bulls remain 10th in the Eastern Conference and are now 20-28 on the season.
Chicago Crusader Players of the Game:
Zach LaVine, Bulls, game-high 25 points.
Nikola Vucevic, Bulls, added 22 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.
