Recapping the Chicago Bulls: Oklahoma City Thunder torch the defense in 1st half while Zach LaVine’s shot is off in 124-110 loss

The Chicago Bulls couldn’t pick up the slack in their second straight game without DeMar DeRozan, crumbling under the Oklahoma City Thunder’s offensive pressure in a 124-110 loss that extended their skid to three games.

Before the game, coach Billy Donovan said the Bulls don’t consider DeRozan’s right quadriceps strain to be “serious” but the team also is wary of worsening the injury by rushing DeRozan back.

The Bulls remained out of sync without DeRozan, struggling to create and maintain a rhythm in their offense. This was only the eighth game the Bulls have played without DeRozan since he signed with them before the 2021-22 season.

• The Thunder arrived in Chicago on a hot streak after winning four of their previous six games with the NBA’s highest offensive rating (123.3) during that span. They continued that trend in the first half Friday, closing the half on an 18-6 run over the final 4:35 and slicing up the Bulls in transition. The Bulls allowed a season-high 72 points in the first half as the Thunder shot 53.5% from the field and led by as many as 18.

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• After cutting that deficit to one point with a third-quarter surge, the Bulls couldn’t maintain that momentum into the fourth. The Thunder opened the quarter with a 13-4 run punctuated by back-to-back turnovers by the Bulls.
• After averaging 30.2 points in the first six games of 2023, Zach LaVine’s shooting evaporated against the Thunder. LaVine went 5-for-19 from the field, including 1-for-8 from 3-point range, and scored 14 of his 25 points at the free-throw line. The Bulls already were struggling to maintain their offensive pace without DeRozan. Without LaVine’s typical output, their offense had no chance of keeping up with the Thunder.

• Despite recent third-quarter implosions, the Bulls flipped the script on the Thunder after halftime, outscoring them 32-19 in the third. They closed the quarter on an 18-5 run over the final 6:46, sparked by Nikola Vučević and Patrick Williams. Alex Caruso’s 3-pointer with 56.6 seconds left cut the Thunder lead to 91-90.
• Coby White brought a much-needed spark to the offense off the bench, scoring 19 points buoyed by 4-for-9 3-point shooting. His offensive energy helped the Bulls draw close in the third quarter, and he added a team-high six assists.

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The Bulls attempted to combat the Thunder’s hot scoring by opening up from the 3-point line themselves. While the Bulls struggled to create around the rim throughout the first half — often flailing out of control in their attempts to attack the rim in transition — they found more success behind the arc.

The Bulls took 12 3-pointers in the first quarter and 38 in the game. Yet despite this increased volume, the Bulls barely outscored the Thunder from 3-point range, going 12-for-38 (31.6%) to the Thunder’s 11-for-33 (33.3%).

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Donovan said defensive leader Caruso stood up in the locker room at halftime and took responsibility for not guarding his one-on-one matchups rigorously enough. Caruso also called for his teammates to step up their defense in the second half.

The defense carried that energy into the third quarter, holding the Thunder to 19 points after giving up 39 in the second. But that rigor quickly faded in the fourth.

“It’s the NBA,” Caruso said. “The best defensive team in the league gives up 110 points a night, so people are going to score. It’s just about not giving up everything. We can’t give up paint, free throws and 3s.

“We just weren’t consistent enough. That’s kind of been our downfall. … The games where we don’t play at our best is when we’re inconsistent. We have good spurts throughout the game but not a full, concentrated 40 minutes.”

Besides DeRozan, the Bulls also were missing forward Javonte Green, who underwent an arthroscopic debridement Wednesday after incurring a deep bone bruise in his right knee in December.

The Bulls fell to 19-24 and dropped to 11th in the Eastern Conference.

The Bulls will host the Golden State Warriors for a 2:30 p.m. matinee Sunday before heading to Paris to face the Detroit Pistons on Thursday.