The Chicago Bulls earned their third home win of the season with a dominant 128-102 finish over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday.
The lopsided affair was punctuated by injury absences. The Nets were missing a sizable chunk of their roster — including Bojan Bogdanović, Dorian Finney-Smith, Noah Clowney, Jaylen Martin, Ben Simmons, Cameron Johnson, Cam Thomas and Ziaire Williams — while the Bulls played without starters Coby White and Patrick Williams.
Nikola Vučević continued a staggering streak of shooting to lead the Bulls offense with 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the floor (3-for-5 from 3-point range).
Here are five takeaways from the game:
1. Matas Buzelis scored his NBA career high.
Playing against a stripped-down version of the Nets offered a prime opportunity for rookie Matas Buzelis, who scored a season-high 20 points after going 4-for-5 from 3-point range.
Buzelis had struggled in a short six-minute stint against the Boston Celtics on Friday, showing his inexperience against the buzzsaw of the best offense in the NBA. But he embraced an opportunity to improve on both ends of the court against the Nets, grabbing five rebounds and tallying two blocks in 22 minutes.
This is one of the highest volumes of minutes that Buzelis has played as a rookie. Coach Billy Donovan has been notably restrained with minutes for younger players even amid a season fixated on youth development.
“We’ve got to develop Julian (Phillips) and Dalen (Terry) and Matas,” Donovan said before Monday’s win. “They’ve got to get playing time. But they also have to understand, it’s not free candy. If every night you’re just penned in for 25 minutes regardless of what you do — I just don’t know if guys can develop like that.”
But with Coby White (ankle) and Patrick Williams (foot) both out of the rotation, Buzelis had room to stretch himself against the Nets. Donovan praised the way Buzelis stayed active on the boards and rotated on defense against Brooklyn, two key areas the coach has highlighted as ways for the rookie to earn more minutes.
2. Julian Phillips joined a young group in the starting lineup.
White missed Monday’s game after rolling his ankle in the first half of Friday’s loss to the Celtics. Donovan said the Bulls don’t expect this injury to be a long-time issue for White, who could still return for Thursday’s game in San Antonio.
But the loss pushed the Bulls to find a temporary substitute at starting shooting guard — and on Monday, that duty fell to second-year forward Phillips.
Phillips struggled on the offensive end, going 1-for-4 from the floor in the first half and missing all four of his 3-point attempts in the game. But despite logging only five points in the win, Phillips made himself productive in all of the quiet areas where he typically excels — gathering up stray rebounds (5), keeping the ball moving on offense (2 assists) and harrying opponents on defense (1 steal, 1 block).
3. Lonzo Ball showed increased comfort on and off the ball.
With barely two minutes left in the first half, Lonzo Ball tip-toed down the sideline, poking and jabbing at the ball as Trendon Watford attempted to dribble across the half-court line. It took a few moments — and a few off-balance steps — before Ball finally found his mark, tapping the ball straight into the hands of Vučević to spark a sudden transition play that ended in a Buzelis dunk.
It was the kind of disruptive play that Bulls fans became quickly accustomed to in the early weeks of Ball’s tenure in Chicago — before the season-ending injury and the two-year absence that followed. And Ball showcased more of that defensive shiftiness throughout Monday’s win.
Ball did not max out his minutes restriction — which was extended to 18 minutes — and logged only five points, two assists and three rebounds. But his presence created a visible lift on both ends of the court, smoothly directing the Bulls on offense while clogging up the Nets on defense.
4. Josh Giddey recorded his first triple-double with the Bulls.
A pass-heavy night for favored guard Josh Giddey, who recorded 20 points, 11 assists and 13 rebounds in his first triple-double for the Bulls. Giddey has often struggled against stronger offenses this season but was able to put aside his defensive woes against the Nets for his strongest game with the team.
The Bulls recorded 33 assists on 48 made baskets, a reflection of the strong ball movement that has defined the offense throughout the first quarter of the season. The offense averages 28.9 assists per game, the fifth-highest number in the league.
“Offense is never going to be the issue for this team,” Giddey said. “We’ve got enough firepower. It’s the other end of the floor that we got to continue to clean up. I thought tonight was a step in the right direction. When we’re moving the ball the way we did tonight — any time you can have 30 assists you’re gonna put a big number on the board.”
5. Patrick Williams began the ramp-up process.
The return is near for Williams, who has begun a ramp-up process to come back from a seven-game absence due to foot soreness. The discomfort is a byproduct of a surgery Williams underwent earlier this year to address a bone edema in his left foot.
Donovan said Williams began running and jumping this weekend. The forward got up shots during shootaround at the United Center on Monday morning but has yet to return to contact drills. The Bulls have not set a target date for Williams’ return to the lineup.
