“ If that wasn't the most iconic possession of the Bulls' season, then I don't know what is… ” THE local television commentator can't believe what just happened before his eyes…
Andre Drummond had just stolen the ball from Bojan Bogdanovic before his teammate Torrey Craig went on the counterattack. The winger then tried to do a “T-Mac” by sending the ball against the basket, to dunk.
Except that his pivot followed the action… and thought that the ball was intended for him. The two men jumped together, touched the circle, part of the ball, but did not score due to their collision. All under the stunned eyes of Coby White who saw a three against zero situation end without a point.
The worst part is that the sequence wasn't even finished. Continuing the action, the same Andre Drummond managed to twist his ankle in the rebound battle on the other side of the field. Obviously badly hit, the poor kingpin had to go out on a wheelchair…
Craig takes responsibility
But what the hell was going through the mind of the Bulls winger, whose team was trailing by 9 points when he attempted his move? “ I just wanted to generate a little buzz and try to give us some momentum. Try to create momentum. I clearly didn't know Drum was going to jump with me. So it was an error of communication, interpretation or other. But in the end, I just have to dunk or finish a layup. I am responsible “, does he recognize.
Furious about the sequence, Billy Donovan will not relay his used remarks during the time-out, requested by the coach without initially knowing that his pivot was injured, which followed this improbable sequence.
“ For me, it was really sad. You are down by 10 points (9)… A lot of things from our own mistakes contributed to… Not just this action, but other actions that maybe weren't as impactful as that one. But this action disappointed me », The Bulls coach can legitimately say.
“ We did some really stupid things tonight. Everyone, not just T. Craig. So we're not going to sit here and point fingers at him. We are a team », thunders Coby White whose team only lost 9 balls in the evening.
Too late in the season
Author of 4 points in 15 minutes, Torrey Craig also stood out at the very end of the third quarter, for having contested a foul called against him. Result: technical foul.
“ I also take responsibility for it. Sometimes we let our emotions get the best of us. But it's a sport with emotions, especially when you want to win, when you're competitive “, continues the winger, calling for the Bulls to do better in this area “ so as not to let this cost us matches »…
Even if they do not explain everything to the defeat of the men of Chicago, against the Knicks of an unleashed Jalen Brunson (45 points), these details count. “ It's too late in the season to have these kinds of gaps. So we have to get back together, that’s for sure. », Continues Coby White.
The Bulls only have three games left (Pistons, Wizards and Knicks) to regain some peace of mind, before the play-in which will decide their destiny against the Hawks. They could have to continue their adventures without Andre Drummond, who put up some good performances coming off the bench (10 points and 12 rebounds for seven games).
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Demar Derozan | 76 | 37.7 | 47.6 | 32.1 | 85.5 | 0.5 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 5.3 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 2.1 | 23.6 |
| Zach Lavine | 25 | 34.9 | 45.2 | 34.9 | 85.4 | 0.3 | 4.8 | 5.2 | 3.9 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 19.5 |
| Coby White | 75 | 36.4 | 44.3 | 37.9 | 84.3 | 0.6 | 4.1 | 4.6 | 5.1 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 2.4 | 18.9 |
| Nikola Vucevic | 73 | 34.1 | 47.6 | 28.7 | 82.3 | 2.8 | 7.8 | 10.6 | 3.4 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 2.5 | 17.6 |
| Ayo Dosunmu | 76 | 29.1 | 50.1 | 40.3 | 81.0 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 2.8 | 3.2 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 12.2 |
| Javonte Green | 5 | 21.2 | 68.8 | 60.0 | 83.3 | 1.8 | 4.6 | 6.4 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 11.0 |
| Alex Caruso | 68 | 28.4 | 46.5 | 40.3 | 76.1 | 0.9 | 2.9 | 3.8 | 3.3 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 2.5 | 10.0 |
| Patrick Williams | 43 | 27.3 | 44.3 | 39.9 | 78.8 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 3.9 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 2.0 | 10.0 |
| Andrew Drummond | 78 | 17.3 | 55.4 | 0.0 | 59.2 | 3.4 | 5.7 | 9.1 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 8.4 |
| Torrey Craig | 49 | 19.9 | 42.8 | 38.1 | 75.8 | 1.3 | 2.6 | 3.9 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 5.8 |
| Jevon Carter | 68 | 13.6 | 38.4 | 33.8 | 57.1 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 4.8 |
| Onuralp Bitim | 21 | 11.5 | 41.7 | 29.7 | 75.0 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 3.5 |
| Dalen Terry | 55 | 10.8 | 40.8 | 21.2 | 61.8 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 2.6 |
| Julian Phillips | 40 | 8.1 | 41.6 | 31.6 | 68.4 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 2.2 |
| Adama Sanogo | 6 | 2.6 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 66.7 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.7 |
| Terry Taylor | 31 | 6.1 | 51.3 | 22.2 | 80.0 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 1.5 |
| Henri Drell | 2 | 2.2 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| Andrew Funk | 3 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
