Scattered boos rained down from the United Center stands in the final seconds of the Chicago Bulls’ fourth straight loss Monday, a 100-91 defeat against the Orlando Magic.
The Bulls were plagued by familiar issues: poor ball movement, arctic 3-point shooting, sloppy play in transition. But the loss was most emphatically punctuated by a lack of energy that has defined the team’s latest skid over the last week.
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With two games left before the All-Star break, the Bulls are five games below .500 and sinking in the Eastern Conference standings.
- Sloppy ball management plagued the Bulls from the opening whistle. They coughed up six turnovers in the first quarter, leading to seven Magic points, and finished with 16 turnovers resulting in 15 points. The only consolation was the Magic’s equally ugly ball protection: 18 turnovers for 16 Bulls points.
- The Bulls sank into a stagnant style of offense, resorting to an isolation approach that placed the burden of scoring on the individual shoulders of Zach LaVine (26 points), DeMar DeRozan (19) and Nikola Vučević (13). The Bulls finished with only 17 assists on 35 made baskets and didn’t crack 100 points for the third time in four games.
- Dalen Terry provided a brief spark in the second half, thundering off the bench with the eager intensity of a rookie who has hardly seen the court all season. With the rest of his teammates stuck in a sluggish stupor, Terry’s energy popped as he tallied four points, one rebound and one steal in nine minutes. After drawing an offensive foul in the third quarter, Terry smashed his head into the stanchion in celebration, earning a mixture of laughter and cheers from the fans behind the basket.
The Bulls missed their first 16 3-pointers and finished 3-for-21. The Magic suffered similarly in the first half, going 2-for-12, but improved slightly in the second half to finish 8-for-27.
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The Bulls are 26-for-125 (20.8%) behind the arc during their four-game skid.
Alex Caruso missed the game because of a sore left foot. Coach Billy Donovan said Caruso aggravated an ongoing injury in Saturday’s loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers and was a game-time decision.
The Bulls fell to 26-31 and are 11th in the Eastern Conference.
The Bulls will travel to Indiana to face the Pacers on Wednesday, then host the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday before the All-Star break. DeRozan will play in the All-Star Game on Sunday in Salt Lake City.
