Before the game, Billy Donovan was asked if the Bulls’ goals for the season had changed.
“No,” the Bulls coach said firmly. “I don’t think anything necessarily changed.”
If that’s true, the Bulls won’t be on this roster past the Feb. 9 trading deadline.
The Bulls’ double-digit lead and botched inbound pass in Tuesday night’s 108-103 loss to the LA Clippers is the latest evidence that Chicago can’t correct its course for the long haul. became.
Just a week ago, the Bulls squandered a 21-point first-half lead before losing to Indiana. They wanted to wash the taste of defeat out of their mouths next time, but they went outside and got hit with Charlotte.
On Tuesday, the Bulls allowed their 19-point first-half lead to disappear at 5:03 of game time. Unlike their game against the Pacers a week ago, they didn’t even get to the second half before the spiral started in earnest.
The Bulls’ 20 turnovers gave the Clippers 24 points and LA a 13-point advantage in that category. The culprit was the same one that allowed the Pacers to turn back and steal the win the Bulls needed.
“When we got up, they were really pressuring and very aggressive,” said Donovan.
And the Bulls were as sloppy as ever, starting with two All-Stars.
DeMar DeRozan had a career-high eight turnovers. Zach LaVine turned it over six times. Ayo Dosunmu was the only other Bulls player to win multiple prizes.
DeMar DeRozan very disappointed about the Bulls’ loss to the Clippers tonight: pic.twitter.com/kVZEqceQv7
— Darnell Mayberry (@DarnellMayberry) February 1, 2023
“I owe a lot to myself,” said DeRozan. “It was too uncharacteristic of me to flip the ball over. Just careless. I didn’t even give them all that credit (and say it was them.”) I was careless with the ball, I was loose with the ball, I was just rushing something.It killed us too, every turnover we had.”
The biggest came in the last seconds.
Alex Caruso threw an inbound bounce pass to LaVine as the Bulls trailed by three with 10.8 seconds remaining. But DeRozan had a flash near the play, allowing Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard to steal the ball from LaVine.
It was all too reminiscent of last week in Indiana, when the Bulls failed to get the ball inbounds on two attempts within the last 30 seconds.
Alex Caruso’s final inbounds pass and the Bulls’ loss to the Clippers tonight pic.twitter.com/QMhGs1bC3p
— Darnell Mayberry (@DarnellMayberry) February 1, 2023
“Zach was a little angled, so I tried to guide him to the spot,” Caruso said. “I think there was probably a bit of a misunderstanding on our part as to who the ball was aimed at.”
LaVine acknowledged the mix-up.
Zach LaVine on the game-deciding final play and the Bulls’ loss to the Clippers tonight. pic.twitter.com/yxsQZooeaH
— Darnell Mayberry (@DarnellMayberry) February 1, 2023
“Alex was trying to throw it into an open spot,” Lavigne said. “I had to take the ball to the inbounds. It was the pin[screen]going up, but it was switching. So I just cut it open and tried it. Me and Demar cut into the same area and[Alex]tried to play and Kawhi got it and we fought for it.”
Most worryingly for the Bulls, those mistakes are still happening in Game 50 of the season. He has only 32 remaining, and he has only 4 remaining before the trading deadline.
It’s beyond doubt that the Bulls are who they are—a volatile bunch that hasn’t mastered the basics yet.
If they don’t make a deal by the deadline, one has to wonder what the Bulls are doing and why. Still, they’re having trouble getting it back to .500. This is a record that has not been held for nearly three months.
And do they want us to believe this is a roster they’re comfortable with?
“I think there’s obviously a lot of basketball to play,” Donovan said.
(Photo by Ivica Zubac and Nikola Vučević: Melissa Tamez / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
