Game notes: Vucevic shines as Chicago Bulls fall to Nets

After a pair of inspiring wins, the Chicago Bulls got knocked down a peg. Losing 120-112 to the Brooklyn Nets, the Bulls fall to 3-3 on the young season.

— Despite trailing by eight points at halftime, the Bulls shot an incredible 14-of-25 on threes in the first half, matching a franchise-high. The Bulls have been one of the best three-point shooting teams in the league through their first five games — 38 percent (eighth) on 44.2 attempts per game (third). While this is a much better and more aggressive three-point shooting team, they were due for a bit of regression, which hit to the tune of a 3-of-19 three-point shooting stretch in the second half.

— Bulls first half defense was problematic yet again, giving up uncontested layups in the half court. The Nets were able to take advantage in transition as well, where they outscored the Bulls on the break 19-10. But it wasn’t just in fastbreak situations where the Bulls got lit up — the Nets were able to get to the lane at will, collecting 66 points in the paint. That’s beyond even their season average of 56.3 points allowed in the paint per game, which is already the second highest number in the league.

Down the stretch, Cam Thomas (32 points on 11-of-23 shooting, 4-of-11 on three-pointers) was able to get Josh Giddey switched onto him time and time again, then bringing Nikola Vucevic into the action where he was able to get to the rim or pull up for threes too easily.

The Bulls tried to combat this by putting Ayo Dosunmu on Thomas, the Nets took advantage of the Bulls switching and feasted.

— Despite an acromioclavicular (AC) joint sprain, Zach LaVine was a go and played well in the first half (17 points on 6-of-10 shooting, 5-of-7 from three). He was hitting some high degree-of-difficulty shots and didn’t at all look bothered by his shoulder.

The second half was a different story. He went 1-of-7 from the field and missed both his three-point attempts for just four points.

We’ll continue to monitor the injury report for updates on LaVine’s shoulder.

— Vucevic had one of his best games since joining the Bulls, going 10-of-11 from the field for 28 points. He was making things happen in the flow of the offense despite not getting many plays called for him.

For Vucevic, it starts with hitting open threes. On the pick-and-roll, Giddey was able to draw both defenders with him on the drive, leaving Vucevic with the entire right side of the court to himself. The Nets were giving him those shots all night and he was taking and making them (3-of-4 from deep).

He had a pair of offensive rebound putbacks in the third quarter, but one of the Bulls best plays of the entire game was on this pick-and-roll with Giddey, where Vucevic rolls into the heart of the Nets zone. As Giddey reverses course and swings it to Dosunmu on the opposite wing, Vucevic is in prime position to seal Ben Simmons under the basket.

This is perfect. Although the Bulls No game-stopping post plays that take 10 seconds to get him the ball in his spot. Vucevic capitalizes on his post scoring ability, making himself available to Dosunmu on the entry pass, and getting struggled with their shooting in the second half, they didn’t abandon the identity they are aspiring towards, but were still able to get an easy, quick score closer to the basket to continue their run back into the game.

— Up next: The Bulls are back at home on Monday to host the lowly Utah Jazz, who are off to an 0-5 start to the season.

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