We know the outcome of a basketball game isn’t determined by one play, except for the occasional deciding so called buzzer beater. But one play Tuesday in the Bulls 128-117 loss to the New York Knicks perhaps served as a metaphor for this hopeful if too often disappointing season in which the Bulls record dropped to 37-42.
The Bulls fell behind by double digits in the first quarter and were trailing 36-27 to start the second quarter when Andre Drummond poked the ball away from a dribbling Bojan Bogdanović, setting up a three-on-zero Bulls breakout, aggressive defensive play and forcing their way back into the game once again creating opportunity, which has been a practice for this Bulls team. Torrey Craig with the ball had the enthusiastic United Center crowd expectant as he dribbled in for the score. Coby White was off to his right and Drummond was trailing at full speed. Craig slowed up, tossing the ball high off the backboard above the rim like one of those 200 or so plays in most NBA All-Star games.
“I just wanted to create some excitement, try to give us the edge,” Craig explained later. “Create some momentum for us.”
It looked at first like a pass for a Drummond rim rattler and backboard shaker, which is probably why Drummond ouch this foot down. But as it turned out Craig was lining up for the solo slam.
“I don’t care really who he was throwing the ball to,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan fumed afterward. “We don’t need to be doing that.”
Mostly, as it turned out, because Drummond did believe the opportunity was for him. So as Craig tried to grab his pass to himself, Drummond’s motor was hitting a straightway and once his semi-trailer form gets going it’s a long runway to stop. So Drummond crashed into Craig and the ball skittered off the rim and to the Knicks. White stood to the right staring.
“We did some really dumb stuff tonight,” White agreed.
Then beyond the embarrassment that broadcaster Stacey King likened to a prime Shaqtin’ a Fool candidate — probably soon to be on a loop — for the TNT Inside the NBA show, Drummond came down awkwardly on the ensuing Knicks possession and severely sprained his ankle, needing wheelchair assistance to leave the court.
In just one three-possession sequence it was the Bulls at their best, their worst and injured yet again. They refused to give up on this game, any game. Players like Craig and White continued through injuries and despite trailing the Knicks by 10 games in the standings were seeking a second consecutive win over New York and the fabulous Jalen Brunson. The Bulls were opportunistic, relentless, and yet ultimately unsuccessful, dazed and confused despite still likely holding onto No. 9 in the Eastern Conference for a home play-in tournament game April 17 against the Atlanta Hawks.
The Bulls were led by DeMar DeRozan with 34 points and had three players scoring at least 24 points, shot 53% overall, won on the boards against the Knicks again and had a 15-7 margin in second-chance points as Javonte had five offensive rebounds. The Bulls were disruptive and daring, but also perhaps too emotional, too anxious and too error prone. And, of course, too lacking in threes, the Knicks with a deciding 17-10 edge in conversions.
“There was a lot of self-induced things I felt we contributed to (the loss),” said Donovan, who immediately called time after the botched fast break to lecture Craig. “Not only that play, but other plays that maybe weren’t as loud as that, but that play was disappointing to me. I was disappointed being down eight or 10 and we get a good defensive stand and a chance to finish the play. I don’t know what the reason was for it; a couple of players said to me in the timeout we need to move on and they were right. We don’t need to be doing that. It’s not what I’m about; it’s not what we should be about.”
It’s unfortunate because Craig, if injured often this season, has been a supportive team player and…
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