Short-handed and undersized, Bulls lose to Wizards at home 105-101 - Chicago Sun-Times

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Life wasn’t fair for the Bulls in the final seconds on Monday.

They might want to get used to that.

Short-handed in the frontcourt and with no real help on the way anytime soon, the Bulls dropped an ugly game to the visiting Wizards 105-101 at the United Center, and again had only themselves to blame.

Undersized against most of the lineups Washington threw out there, the Bulls (9-14) still found the game there for the taking with 29.2 seconds left.

Coby White had just cut the deficit to one, with the Wizards (6-15) calling a timeout to draw up a play for All-Star Bradley Beal.

The guard attacked the rim and drew the foul with 9.8 seconds left, but left the door wide open when he missed the first free throw, making the second to put the Bulls down two.

Of course Billy Donovan called Zach LaVine’s number out of the timeout, especially with LaVine going head-to-head with Beal all night, as each of the standouts had 35 points. LaVine needed 37, however, and fell short.

Attacking the left side of the rim, LaVine missed the layup, allowing the Wizards to grab the rebound and ice the game at the free throw line.

Just like that life without frontcourt players like Wendell Carter Jr. (quadriceps), Lauri Markkanen (shoulder), Otto Porter Jr. (back) and Chandler Hutchison (personal reasons) became a dose of reality.

“From the five-minute mark to maybe the three-minute mark [left in the game] I thought we got a little too frantic,’’ Donovan said of what went wrong in the latest loss. “One of the things for our team that was a problem is I thought their size hurt us with some of our frontcourt guys being out. That was a factor for us [Monday].’’

Tough love

Daniel Gafford doesn’t need to be told by his coaches or his teammates how he’s been playing lately. The second-year big man is proving to be his toughest critic, and that was the case on Monday.

The former Arkansas standout was once again starting for an injured Wendell Carter Jr., got into foul trouble early after a solid start to his game, picked up a technical, and was frustrated a good part of the game.

“I’ve been playing, excuse my language, [bleepy] to be honest,’’ Gafford said. “I kind of get in my own head sometimes. And when you get in your own head, you can go into a dark place and it’s hard to be able to pull yourself out of that. But luckily I’ve got great guys on the team that helps me get out of that situation.

“If I’m in my own funk, I’m no good for the team at all. At that point, I’m really focusing on “I’’ more than “we,’’ but that’s not winning basketball.’’

Old man Thad

Thad Young is having his minutes monitored during back-to-back games, but Donovan said the best way to keep an eye on the minutes for the 14-year veteran is simply communication.

“He knows his body extremely well,’’ Donovan said. “He knows the grinds and rigors of an NBA season. And just checking in with him.

“I think right now we have a very, very productive and effective player with the way he has played these last couple weeks. We need to make sure he’s playing at a high level. We have a lot of games jam packed in a short period of time and we really have to make sure that he – all of these guys aren’t going to be fresh, I get it – is still being productive and he’s not just logging so many minutes because of the absence of some frontcourt players.’’

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February 09, 2021 at 11:11AM
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Short-handed and undersized, Bulls lose to Wizards at home 105-101 - Chicago Sun-Times
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