CHICAGO (670 The Score) – Against the woefully shorthanded Nets on Monday evening, the Bulls’ vision for their youngsters taking flight was on display.
Fourth-year guard Josh Giddey had his first triple-double with the Bulls and rookie forward Matas Buzelis had a career-high 20 points off the bench as Chicago rolled to a 128-102 win against Brooklyn at the United Center. The Nets (9-13) were missing seven players due to injury, including three of their top four scorers in Cam Thomas, Cameron Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith.
The 22-year-old Giddey had 20 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists while shooting 9-of-17 from the field. The Bulls compiled 33 assists as a team while shooting 52.2% and recording 30 fastbreak points.
“It was cool,” Giddey said. “The guys made my job easy. We played the right way. We kind of emphasized running, kicking the ball ahead, playing fast. So I was able to throw the ball ahead, guys made shots, got to the rim, got threes. It was a team effort. We did it by committee tonight, and that’s the way it’s got to be every night.”
Buzelis had played just four minutes in the Bulls’ previous game, a loss to the defending champion Celtics on Friday, with coach Billy Donovan explaining that there have been times in Buzelis’ rookie season in which he hasn’t followed the team’s game plan with the proper detail or boxed out well enough. As part of his mindset in developing youngsters, Donovan has stressed the need for the 20-year-old Buzelis to earn his minutes, noting before the game that playing time is “not free candy.”
Donovan liked how Buzelis responded Monday. Beyond Buzelis shooting 7-of-10 from the floor and 4-of-5 from 3-point range, he added five rebounds and two blocks in 22 minutes.
“One of his great strengths in my opinion is, he gets disappointed or down, that he wants to do better, but it doesn’t like paralyze him, if you know what I mean,” Donovan said of Buzelis. “I’ve seen some players that are just afraid to make mistakes and they just don’t do anything. He’s not that way.
“He came out pretty focused, and he earned his minutes tonight when he went out there and played.”
For his part, Buzelis has tried to keep his focus simple in his rookie season.
“It was obviously the best game of my career right now,” Buzelis said. “I just keep learning, keep striving, keep progressing. I think it’s just gotten better – every time I play, I keep learning. I keep getting more comfortable on the court.
“I always think it’s going to be tough no matter what I walk into. I know it’s going to be difficult. Once that moment comes, you’re not shocked that it’s going to be a tough season. But I’m staying in the present time. I never really viewed what’s going to happen in the future. I just keep getting better every day.”
The Bulls improved to 9-13 with a win and are off until visiting the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday.
“When we kick the ball ahead, we run, we get out in transition, we look great,” Giddey said. “We’ve been over it – offense is never going to be the issue for this team. We’ve got enough firepower. It’s the other end of the floor that we’ve got to continue to clean up, and I thought tonight was a step in the right direction. But when we’re moving the ball the way we did tonight, any time you can have 30 (plus) assists, you’re going to put a big number on the board.”
Cody Westerlund is an editor for 670TheScore.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.