The Chicago Bulls sunk back into a losing skid with a 135-126 loss to the Utah Jazz on Monday.
Scoring wasn’t the problem for the Bulls — Coby White led with 28 points, Ayo Dosunmu added 25 points and Nikola Vučević tallied 23 points plus 10 rebounds. But the Bulls (3-3) couldn’t keep their defensive cool in another loss, allowing the Jazz to carve their way to the basket. This was the first win of the season for the Jazz, who entered the game 0-6.
Here are six takeaways from the loss.
1. Zach LaVine was sidelined with an adductor injury.
The Bulls played without star guard LaVine on Monday after he was ruled out with a right adductor strain. LaVine suffered the injury in Friday’s loss to the Brooklyn Nets, and then had consistent tightness over the weekend. Coach Billy Donovan said the injury is not expected to be long-term or serious for LaVine. It is undetermined if he will be available for Wednesday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks.
Former Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen also sat out the game due to lower back spasms after being listed as doubtful earlier in the day.
2. Ayo Dosunmu delivered a lift in LaVine’s absence.
Coach Billy Donovan rotated Dosunmu into the starting rotation in place of LaVine. The guard has been the first player off the bench since the start of the season and he continued to deliver an important boost to the offense.
Dosunmu scored 25 points on 9-for-13 shooting despite missing his two attempts from behind the arc. He sparked the offense in transition and offered the most assertive offensive presence in pushing the ball downhill, slinging six assists.
Photos: Utah Jazz 135, Chicago Bulls 126 on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024
3. Defense dwindled around the rim.
Scoring wasn’t much of an issue for the Bulls — after all, 126 points should be enough to beat most teams in the NBA. But the Bulls offered little opposition to the Jazz on the defensive end, allowing them to shoot 53.9% from the field — and 45.7% from 3-point range — as the Bulls coughed up 16 second-chance points and 60 points in the paint.
Donovan said miscommunication was an issue for the Bulls, who struggled to stay on the same page as they attempted to navigate changing defensive coverages.
“We were in zone one time and we had one or two guys playing man,” Donovan said. “We’ve got to be able to really be locked in on what we’re doing. … There’s a lot of things like that that we’ve got to clean up and get better at and I think it starts with the communication.”
4. Poor shooting balanced out in the second half.
The Bulls aren’t going to stop shooting this season — regardless of how many shots are falling early in a game. That held true on Monday night as the Bulls opened the game 2-for-10 from behind the arc in the opening quarter and 6-for-20 in the first half.
Despite this lackluster start, the Bulls maintained their shooting volume, finishing 14-for-37 (37.8%) to keep pace with the Jazz. White once again anchored the team’s long-range shooting, going 6-for-9 from behind the arc in his fifth game of the season with four or more 3-pointers.
5. Patrick Williams scored a season-high — but fouled out in clutch time.
After failing to assert himself offensively throughout the start of this season, Patrick Williams recorded a season-high 13 points on 5-for-11 shooting against the Jazz. He scored the bulk of his points from behind the 3-point arc, where he went 3-for-6.
But Williams couldn’t keep out of foul trouble on the other end of the court, fouling out with 3:07 remaining after fouling John Collins as the pair scrambled for a loose ball. The lack of control left the Bulls without one of their best defenders in the closing rotation as they sank back into a double-digit deficit.
6. Matas Buzelis still couldn’t crack extra minutes.
After a one-day stint with the Windy City Bulls for a scrimmage on Saturday, rookie Matas Buzelis returned to the rotation on Monday — but only for a handful of minutes. Buzelis checked into the game for four minutes in the second quarter, missing his only shot and logging one rebound.
Despite another explanation from Donovan that the Bulls are prioritizing the development of Buzelis through game action this season, the rookie was not given another chance in Monday’s game. Instead, Talen Horton-Tucker earned another lengthy rotation in place of the rookie, logging 10 points, six rebounds and four assists in 28 minutes off the bench. Horton-Tucker played more than Dalen Terry and Julian Phillips, two players whose development has also been a key emphasis this season.
