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When a jammed wrist sidelined Giannis Antetoukounmpo for the final three quarters of the Chicago Bulls‘ Thursday bout with the Milwaukee Bucks, Zach LaVine and Co. seemingly had a golden opportunity to steal a win and snap their season-long losing streak.
Instead of doing that, the Windy City crew stumbled and bumbled its way to a 12-point loss on its home court. Consequently, the aforementioned streak now sits at six games, a backward swing that has resulted in the team falling all the way down to 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings at the All-Star Break.
Not only that — there are now two full games separating the Bulls and the No. 10 Toronto Raptors at the bottom of the play-in range.
For a team looking to secure its second straight playoff berth, this is obviously a less-than-ideal scenario (to put it delicately). And, for his part, LaVine wasn’t interested in sugarcoating the situation after his team’s latest setback.
Zach LaVine Drops Truth Bomb on Where the Bulls Stand With Just 23 Games Left on Their Schedule
The Bulls’ highest-earner and cornerstone piece — who made just five of 16 shots against Milwaukee — made it clear that a postseason return continues to be the goal, the big losing streak notwithstanding. However, he also conceded that the recent downturn has taken its toll.
“This is our job. We’re not just throwing in the towel. I don’t think we have the type of team to do that,” LaVine opined, as relayed by NBC Sports Chicago’s KC Johnson. “Losing hurts. Everybody is frustrated. But we’re doing our jobs every day. We’re the ones who have to figure it out. Nobody else is.”
The two-time All-Star made it clear, though, that his team is one that has yet to establish the kind of consistency one would expect to see from a legitimate playoff contender laden with veteran talent.
“Your record is what it is,” he said of Chicago’s 26-33 record mark, via 670 The Score’s Cody Westerlund. “I think for us, we’ve shown we can beat anybody. Also, we’re able to lose to everybody too. You take it for what it is, let it hurt, let it sting. You can’t just keep avoiding it and thinking you’re something you’re not.”
LaVine has been particularly baffled by the team’s struggles on the offensive end, which were more than apparent amid the team’s 100-point output and 38.1% shooting versus the Bucks.
“Something isn’t working obviously. Some games, we’re really good. Some games, we’re bad,” he said, again via Westerlund. “That’s, once again, the consistency factor of figuring out what our identity is…”
Dalen Terry Is the Bright Spot
Silver linings are almost always few and far between in this kind of loss, but Bulls fans did get at least one thing to sink their teeth into amid the epic fail. Namely, rookie guard Dalen Terry, who got some extended run and responded with the best game of his rookie campaign to date.
In 27 minutes off the bench, the 20-year-old scored a season-high 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting while adding seven rebounds, six assists and a steal. He was a net positive (at plus-one), too, despite the heavy workload in a losing effort.
“I thought he did a good job. He played with really good energy,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said postgame. “He’s very, very active. He gets his nose in there on balls, he competes, he plays hard. I think, as a young player, there’s always gonna be ups and downs, but you always appreciate how hard he tries to compete and how hard he works out there.”
That said, Donovan was noncommittal regarding a potential bump in playing time during the season’s final stretch.
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