Bulls fall to Pelicans and big man Zion Williamson as season stalls
This felt like a moment in the season for the Bulls to start helping the front office make up its mind.
Four consecutive winnable games that could have pushed the Bulls above .500, starting with a home game Tuesday against the underachieving Pelicans, who entered the game with only eight victories.
There was only one problem — and a 290-pound one at that. Zion Williamson was back in the mix for the Pelicans.
Williamson, who was playing in only his ninth game of the season, scored 21 points, handed out nine assists and grabbed seven rebounds as the Pelicans beat the Bulls 119-113.
‘‘I mean, that dude’s a force,’’ Bulls guard Zach LaVine said. ‘‘You know he’s going left, [but] you can’t stop it. He overpowers guys, but [it’s] his selflessness. I think he had it going [scoring-wise]. He could easily hit that little turnaround, but he invited the double-team, waited for the rotations and hit the right guy.’’
That was quite the opposite of what the Bulls did. They committed 15 turnovers that led to 28 points for the Pelicans and were indecisive offensively.
‘‘[The Pelicans] did a good job switching,’’ coach Billy Donovan said of the Bulls’ indecision. ‘‘We’ve seen that before, but we kind of held on, did not get to the next action or create a situation where there was some confusion where we could break away and create some penetration. I thought we got stagnant.’’
That possibly speaks to an even bigger problem with the trade deadline Feb. 6 looming and the front office also seeming indecisive.
Falling to 18-22 and losing to a bottom-feeding team again should scream the obvious, but that remains to be seen.
All Donovan was worried about was trying to defend Williamson, who put all of his skills on display in the fourth quarter of a close game.
First Williamson cut to the hoop with the ball but found a wide-open Jose Alvarado in the corner for a three-pointer that put the Pelicans ahead by five. Ten seconds later it was that combo again, with Williamson finding Alvarado with a no-look, behind-the-back pass for another three.
It’s that arsenal of weapons that impressed Donovan.
‘‘He’s a skilled player from the perspective of him being as big and strong as he is and very skilled with the basketball,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘He can put the ball on the floor, he can handle and he can create. I think he’s a very underrated passer. I think he’s got vision. I think he sees plays. He plays the game the right way. For a good portion of the season, he’s been battling injuries. But since he’s been back, he’s been very impressive.’’
Another example was the nine-foot floater he scored on in the fourth to put the Pelicans ahead by eight.
And just to make sure the Bulls didn’t have anything cute up their sleeves, Williamson checked back into the game with about four minutes left and quickly helped increase the lead to 15 with an acrobatic drive to the hoop on which he also drew a foul.
The Bulls, however, made a last-stand run. LaVine made a clutch three-pointer, and the Bulls had a chance to cut the deficit to one after a steal by Lonzo Ball. But Coby White missed an open three from the corner, and the Pelicans’ Trey Murphy iced the game from the free-throw line to hand the Bulls their second consecutive loss.
‘‘We were trying to get back into the game,’’ LaVine said of the late push. ‘‘Guys really wanted it, and we were close to making a little miracle happen.’’