Bulls bounce back from Lakers game with big win
Satoransky hits career record against Hawks
The Bulls can hang their hats on a few superlatives from Wednesday night’s 113-93 rout of the Hawks.
Tomas Satoransky had a careerhigh 27 points to go with eight assists and seven rebounds. And the Bulls had their biggest lead (28), most points off turnovers (31) and most fouls (30) in a game this season.
Yep, there are even positives in the high foul count for a team that was determined to put a body on ballhandlers and didn’t crumble when several of their top defenders ran into foul trouble, including Wendell Carter Jr., who fouled out.
There was no fourth-quarter collapse either, like the 16-0 rally the Lakers had in the Bulls’ loss Tuesday.
“(Tuesday) night hurt us, and we wanted to come out early and set the tone,” Coby White said during a postgame TV interview.
Satoransky said, “I think we were all frustrated the way the last game went. … You have to bounce back in another city, and I think we did that today. Hopefully this can be a turnaround game for us.”
Here are four other observations from watching the Bulls, who improved to 3-6.
1. Otto Porter Jr. set the table for the Bulls before he got hurt
again: If it feels like coach Jim Boylen treats Otto Porter with kid gloves by limiting his minutes, his decision may now seem justified.
Porter led all scorers in the first quarter with 10 points, but that number doesn’t tell the full story of what he contributed.
He had struggled with his shot at times this season, and had been guilty, along with his fellow starters, of allowing the ball to
“stick” in their half-court sets, as Boylen often complains. But that wasn’t the case Wednesday night.
Porter set the pace with running floaters and a fast-break 3-pointer. He also had two rebounds and two assists and picked off one of Trae Young’s passes. In the second quarter, he added another steal and a block.
But he left the game about four minutes before the first half ended with a bruised left foot.
Boylen said postgame on TV that he didn’t know Porter’s status going forward.
“(He) either stepped on somebody’s foot or somebody stepped on his foot. Kind of heard him mumble it to me as he came out of the game.”
2. The Bulls collectively harassed Hawks star Trae Young: The Bulls remember Trae Young’s 49 points (including six 3-pointers) and 16 assists in a quadruple-overtime barn burner last March. On Wednesday, they held him to nine points — 0-for-8 from the arc — and three assists.
The Bulls put a lot of big bodies in front of him, stayed in front of screens and kept their hands active to disrupt the passing lanes.
“We just tried to make things complicated for him, not to give him open looks,” Tomas Satoransky said. “I think our bigs did a great job on him as well, being up at the level of the screen. We didn’t let him have an easy start on us.”
Coby White added, “We got the (scouting report) and did what we could to try to contain him. We’re lucky he missed some good looks that he makes 99% of the time.”
3. The Zach LaVine dunk watch is officially on: Zach LaVine hinted this preseason that with Chicago hosting All-Star Weekend, he’s considering entering the dunk contest for the first time since 2016.
When LaVine blocked De’Andre Hunter’s 3point attempt and Lauri Markkanen tapped the rebound to him, it set up a perfect moment for LaVine — and in front of the perfect audience. Hawks great and dunk contest legend Dominique Wilkins was calling the game for Fox Sports Southeast with partner Bob Rathbun.
LaVine took off and nailed a reverse 360-degree dunk.
“That brought back memories,” Wilkins said on ESPN.
“Yes, I bet it did,” Rathbun said.
4. Jason Benetti makes a great straight man for Stacey King: Jason Benetti, the White Sox TV announcer, filled in for Neil Funk and gave viewers a taste of his subtle humor.
In the fourth quarter, the camera was trained on a gawky young man in a vintage Bulls jersey sitting in the stands at State Farm Arena.
“Good to see Danny Parkins tonight in his old Bulls jersey,” Benetti said, a treat for any Chicago sports radio listeners who know the WSCR-AM 670 afternoon show co-host. “Third-place in the Danny Parkins lookalike contest.”
And then there was this exchange with Stacey King when Chandler Hutchison, playing just his second game back from a hamstring injury, muffed a dunk and cued up a reference to Scottie Pippen.
King: “I always call him Young Pip. Right there he looked like Old Pip.”
Benetti: “Come on! Why you gotta bury 33 like that?”
And then a few seconds later, Benetti said: “I’m in for a Scottie PippenStacey King dunk contest right now. Twitter would love that stuff.”
King: “I’m a 3-point shooter now, man.” Benetti: “Oh, are you?” King: “I’m open as soon as I get out of my car.”