Jett Howard had just penalized a 3-pointer, so Coby White was quick to restart the Bulls' machine and respond with first intention from the same distance. This 20-point gap in favor of the Magic, at the start of the second quarter, was therefore only the story of a few seconds.
On their floor last night, the Illinois players had a very poor start to the game: 15 points behind and only 18 points scored after 12 minutes. Already two days earlier, they had not had a happier start against the Grizzlies, also finding themselves trailing by 20 points.
And yet, like against Memphis, Chicago displayed the resources to get back together and end up winning. Coby White (21 points) was clearly the detonator, then Ayo Dosunmu (12) and Nikola Vucevic (18 and 14) took over. By going 12-3 as the break approached, the Bulls were only 10 points behind when they returned to the locker room (52-62).
The attack of Paolo Banchero's Magic was rusting quarter after quarter, the locals signed a 19-2 after the break on the basis of an “up-tempo” game and a 3-point festival started by Patrick Williams (79-71). And continued by Josh Giddey, to rock the United Center.
What's wrong in the first place?
“ If we maintain our rhythm and play like this throughout the entire match, we will end up doing well in attack. “, notes Zach LaVine (shoulder discomfort), one of the least inspired of the evening (11 points at 2/9), according to whom his training must “ continue to play with the same strength “.
“ If we don't run, we're screwed. It's that simple. If we run, we might be able to have fun. We must have in mind what we must do to win », recalls Billy Donovan while pushing his troops to play in transition.
The rest of the events were nevertheless much less happy afterwards, both for the Bulls and for the Magic. The locals only converted 3 of their 15 attempts in the last quarter, while the Magic finished with a 4/22 for… 28 points scored in total by the two teams (16-12).
But the Bulls, helped by a new 3-point shot from Patrick Williams one minute from time, will have enough juice to win by a small possession. “ We have a group of competitors. It shows in the way we play. We must ask ourselves the reasons for our delays. What do we do in the second half that we don't do in the first? », asks the winger.
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Zach Lavine | 4 | 34.7 | 55.2 | 45.7 | 82.4 | 0.5 | 5.0 | 5.5 | 2.8 | 4.0 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 26.0 |
| Nikola Vucevic | 4 | 32.6 | 51.7 | 52.4 | 90.9 | 2.3 | 8.0 | 10.3 | 3.0 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 3.0 | 20.8 |
| Coby White | 4 | 32.7 | 41.7 | 32.4 | 80.0 | 0.3 | 4.8 | 5.0 | 4.8 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 18.5 |
| Josh Giddey | 4 | 27.3 | 46.7 | 46.2 | 60.0 | 1.8 | 6.0 | 7.8 | 6.0 | 2.5 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 14.3 |
| Jalen Smith | 4 | 13.7 | 53.8 | 57.1 | 66.7 | 2.0 | 3.8 | 5.8 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 2.5 | 11.5 |
| Patrick Williams | 4 | 27.8 | 27.8 | 29.4 | 66.7 | 1.5 | 4.0 | 5.5 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 6.8 |
| Ayo Dosunmu | 4 | 26.0 | 30.3 | 15.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 5.0 | 5.5 | 4.5 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 5.8 |
| Julian Phillips | 4 | 13.8 | 41.2 | 40.0 | 100.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 4.8 |
| Lonzo Ball | 3 | 15.7 | 35.7 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 3.7 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 4.7 |
| Chris Duarte | 2 | 3.1 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 |
| Dalen Terry | 4 | 7.7 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 75.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 1.3 |
| Matas Buzelis | 4 | 5.9 | 20.0 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 1.3 |
| Talen Horton Tucker | 3 | 4.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 |
| Jevon Carter | 1 | 4.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
