After the Rockets, then the Grizzlies, the Pelicans, deprived of Zion Williamson (foot), chained a third victory in a row at home with at least ten points ahead. Despite a Brandon Ingram not very successful in shooting but altruistic (16 points at 4/15 and 9 assists), they had no difficulty repelling the Bulls in poor form.
The latter, carried by their usual tandem DeMar DeRozan – Zach LaVine, had however signed a first period of quality, finished with two possessions behind (58-53). But despite getting some good shots, the Bulls lacked success as the Pelicans gradually widened the gap after the break.
On a 3-point basket at the head of the racket from Jonas Valanciunas, who won his duel with Nikola Vucevic, the locals offered themselves a 14-point lead (76-62). The Bulls tried to react but their defense did not make enough weight in this third quarter ended with 37 points conceded.
In the fourth quarter, the Pelicans continued to unfold to afford up to 26 points ahead (108-82). We still had to wait a while to see the “garbage time” since the DeRozan – LaVine duo still had a say in reducing the gap to 14 points three minutes from the end (119-105), without worrying the locals.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– Billy Donovan’s tactical mistake. With 17 points behind at the start of the last quarter (95-78), the Bulls could hope to place a “run” to pick up. Except that their coach has decided to replace Andre Drummond with Derrick Jones Jr. and thus to deprive himself of a pivot. The Pelicans did not hesitate to insist on Jonas Valanciunas at the post to attract the two-man catch and free up the spaces. First served in the circle by Jose Alvarado, the pivot thus rewarded his leader below. This short sequence fueled an 8-0 which pushed the visitors a little further (103-78).
– The intelligence of the Pelicans. In addition to having had the good idea to exploit this favorable “match-up” mentioned just above, they did not fail to vary the pleasures by feeding the player in rhythm at the right time. Example speaking with Devonte ‘Graham who, two minutes from the end of the third quarter, planted an award-winning basket after a screen at the head of the racket. Next possession? CJ McCollum asked for the same simple system to serve his teammate with the same result. The Bulls, however, responded to Devonte’ Graham behind the arc each time.
– The Bulls in the hard. Three defeats in a row, one victory in six games… That’s what’s called being tough. In the negative, the Bulls (6-9) occupy only a modest 11th place in the East, tied with the Nets. A home loss to the Magic on Friday would be a very bad sign…
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Trey Murphy III. With each tenure, most often replacing Zion Williamson, he shows himself. He did not do things by halves last night with a first career double-double marked by a very good 3-point address. The winger also showed off his athleticism with a tap dunk following his own miss to the circle past Andre Drummond. Or with this counter from Zach LaVine before to go dunk on Nikola Vucevic.
✅ CJ McCollum. While Brandon Ingram suffered with his shooting but fed the column of assists, the back-turned-playmaker signed a good managerial game. He has never been as much a distributor as this season.
✅ DeMar DeRozan. 28 points with only four missed shots, not a single lost ball… The leader of the Bulls answered present but without his good performance having much impact on the physiognomy of the meeting.
⛔ Patrick Williams. We have to believe that the absence of Zion Williamson, that he was impatient to faceplayed on his motivation… The winger is obviously not the biggest attacker in the Bulls’ five but he signed his most discreet offensive outing of the season with only four shots attempted and a -21 in the score when he was in play. A little more aggressiveness on his part would not have been too much while his replacement Javonte Green was less shy but more clumsy (1/7).
THE FOLLOWING
Pelicans (9-6) : reception of the Celtics, Friday.
Bulls (6-9) : reception of the Magic, Friday.
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