For Nikola Vucevic and the Bulls, coming home felt good

On a series of three consecutive losses before this night, the Bulls saw their return home in a positive light, after their road trip tricky (four losses in six games). But to return to victory, against Wizards also in difficulty, Chicago above all needed its executives to wake up.

To start with Nikola Vucevicamong the most criticized of the team since the start of the season, despite its double-double average, and considered as the Illinois franchise X factor.

Expected to support DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine, as the third thief of the local “Big Three”, the Montenegrin showed himself to be up to par against Washington: 25 points and 11 rebounds in 36 minutes, 10/16 on shots and 3/5 to 3-pts. Quite simply his best performance of the 2022/23 financial year…

” [Nikola Vucevic] played a great game, from start to finish », congratulated him his trainer, Billy Donovan. ” He was really efficient, everything worked for him. He played from the post, scored shots from mid-range and even a few 3-pointers in the second half. But I also give DeMar a lot of credit [DeRozan] and Zach [LaVine]who had trouble shooting to start, but who remained in the match, like competitors. »

A trio at the rendezvous

If DeMar DeRozan (27 points, 7 rebounds) and Zach LaVine (25 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists) certainly shone last night, we will still remember that Nikola Vucevic proved to be very valuable at the end of the game. In particular to definitively restore the advantage to the Bulls of a small hookthree minutes from the end…

” I had just landed a few 3-pts, but found he had the best duel [Kyle Kuzma défendait au poste, ndlr]. We all trust each other. I even think he was the victim of a fault. But it was a great deed “confided LaVine, the smuggler.

” It just shows how much confidence he has in his teammates and in me on this specific action. “said Vucevic for his part, concerning his teammate. ” It is also something that we discussed together, when I try to take a position at the post. Generally, if I take the ball out and he doesn’t feel like he can shoot, I’ll get back into position because my defender will have relaxed. »

On the next possession, Nikola Vucevic even allowed himself to make the difference in defense, by countering Monte Morris’ attempt to penetrate, before going to snatch two offensive rebounds in the last minute. Proof of the positive influence of the double All-Star on the game of Chicago, alongside bosses DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine, therefore (28 points in total in the fourth quarter).

“ We have all done our job. We could have done better on a lot of things, especially in the first three quarters, but we all managed decisive actions at the end. “Judged LaVine.

” We are certainly capable of it. There will be games where other players will raise their voices and take the weight of scoring away from us. But as long as we stay aggressive and get our butts moving, I think we’ll be fine. added DeRozan.