Bulls find lack of star power tough to overcome in loss to Timberwolves
For the second consecutive night, the Bulls were done in by blown defensive assignments and not enough physicality in the paint.
But mostly by star power.
After Luka Doncic ran the Bulls out of the gym in Dallas, Anthony Edwards had next, leading the Timberwolves back from a six-point fourth-quarter deficit, sending the Bulls (3-6) to a fourth consecutive loss, 135-119.
Just don’t try to convince guard Josh Giddey there’s a talent deficiency.
“Regardless of personnel or who is on the floor for us, our guys play hard, play the right way, play together, play unselfish,” Giddey said after the latest loss when asked about not having an elite player on the roster. “When you put all that together, it’s a tough team to play against. We love what we’ve got in this locker room, we believe we have enough, and we really do believe that.
“There’s been stretches this year where we’ve looked great. The Milwaukee game, the Orlando game, we’ve put it together. It’s just a matter of putting together that consistent balance where we can string long stretches together. Once we figure that out, and I don’t think we’re far away from it.”
Wasted by the Bulls was a solid one-two punch of Nikola Vucevic and Coby White, who combined to score 49. But Edwards showed why he is in a different class than what the Bulls have, hitting two huge threes that grabbed momentum midway through the final stanza and finishing the fourth with 13 of his game-high 33 points.
Not that Edwards was alone, considering the T-wolves (5-3) put up 45 points in that quarter, again exposing a defense that is searching for an identity without Alex Caruso in the mix.
“There were certain things I was definitely displeased with,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said of the defense. “The thing that was disappointing was there were opportunities to give help and we weren’t there when we needed to be there.
“Some of it was physicality. There were shots off the glass and we got moved out of the way.”
Case for the defense
The numbers say that Zach LaVine is playing better defense than last season, but the sample size is small. Don’t tell that to Donovan.
LaVine had a defensive efficiency rating of 117.8 last year and had it down to 114 in six games so far this season.
“He’s taken it on,” Donovan said. “He’s really tried to play both ends. He’s working on both ends. Again, stylistically, it’s probably helped him because he’s getting out in transition.”
Making Matas
Coming off an early-season career-best 13 point in Dallas on Wednesday, rookie Matas Buzelis found the sledding a bit rougher against the T-wolves.
Expected by Donovan, who just wants the 11th overall pick to continue getting playing time, but also understanding what he needs to do in order to keep his development moving forward.
“There’s going to be strength issues at times because he’s young, but he’s got to go to the glass offensively and defensively,” Donovan said. “The other thing is he’s got to run the floor. He’s got to run the floor in transition.
“Played with a lot more physicality [in Dallas]. When you’re his size, a lot of times you don’t have to worry about blocking out. But when you’ve got guys that are your size coming in, and they’re 20 and 30 pounds heavier, you better block out. Like it’s not going to work. There are things that he’s learning as the game goes on.”