The Chicago Bulls came away with a big win over the Memphis Grizzlies but Ja Morant still came away with a triple-double.”
“Morant’s tough because he’s so athletic,” began Bulls head coach Billy Donovan said via the team’s official Twitter after the win on April 2, “and he gets in the air, and now all of a sudden he starts throwing the ball to open players when your help’s kind of covering the rim,”.
Despite tallying a 17-point, 10-assist, 10-rebounds performance, Morant’s Grizzlies fell 128-107.
It’s a notable outcome for multiple reasons not the least of which is that the 23-point deficit the Bulls overcame is the largest of the season. There’s plenty of credit to go around – guard Coby White has some ideas on who to point to – but none of it would matter if the players weren’t doing their part.
The largest comeback of the season 💪
“Our hand activity was really poor,” Donovan said. “And when you don’t have active hands and high hands – not so much reaching, slapping – but just active hands in the pick-and-roll, active hands. I thought our hand activity was so much better in the second half than it was in the first.”
Chicago outscored Memphis 75-39 in the second half including blitzing them 40-16 in the third quarter alone.
Billy Donovan’s Key Halftime Switch
Donovan made a few notable adjustments in the second half, leaving White in for a little longer as he was on a heater as well as going with Derrick Jones Jr. over Andre Drummond for some critical minutes.
“I thought there was an opportunity to switch a little bit,” Donovan said. “I thought we got hurt in some pick-and-rolls coming downhill. Derrick gives us that flexibility to do that. And I give him credit because they brought Jackson back in in the fourth and we stuck with Derrick. And he did a really really nice job battling and fighting, he scored a few points. But he battled. But it was more for us to be able to switch and just try to keep the ball in front of us.”
Jones finished with four points, one steal, and a plus-15 plus-minus in over nine minutes after being a DNP-CD in the Bulls’ last outing, a win over the Charlotte Hornets on March 31.
But he has responded when called upon before.
This is the fifth time Jones has finished with a positive plus-minus in his last seven appearances and the fourth time he has finished as a plus-14 or better in that span.
Jones’ was one of nine steals by the Bulls, all of which came in the second half.
Bulls-Hawks Equals Major Implications
The Bulls were only able to hold serve in the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament race as all four teams won their weekend game with the Miami Heat beating the Dallas Mavericks on April 1 and the Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors each notching critical wins on Sunday just like the Bulls did.
That sets up the head-to-head vs the now eighth-seeded Hawks on April 4 up to be monumental for the postseason. A Bulls win would likely give them the nine-seed depending on what happens with the Raptors in their showdown with the Hornets.
Hawks beat Mavs, and they stay tied with Raptors, with the tiebreaker in hand. Bulls one game back.
Raps: @ CHA, @ BOS, @ BOS, vs. MIL
Bulls: vs. ATL, @ MIL, @ DAL vs. DET
Hawks: @ CHI, vs. WASH, vs. PHI, @ BOS
The Bulls’ newfound resolve is sure to be tested even more down the stretch.
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Billy Donovan Addresses Ja Morant After Bulls’ Comeback Win Over Grizzlies