CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Maybe it’ll happen in Orlando. Maybe it’ll have to wait until next week during a four-game homestand.
Heck, maybe it happens at lunch on Friday afternoon.
DeMar DeRozan wasn’t quite sure when it will happen, only that it will. It has to.
“We haven’t been as consistent as we’ve wanted to be, but it could take what we eat at lunch to change everything,’’ DeRozan said. “That’s just how I view it, and I try to give that same mindset and energy to everyone on the team.’’
Well, no one appears to be paying attention.
In a season of rock-bottom defeat after rock-bottom defeat, the Bulls followed up a blown 21-point lead in a loss to the Pacers by going into Charlotte on Thursday and blowing a 10-point lead in the third quarter in a 111-96 loss to the Hornets, who had only five home wins.
“We come out good, looking like we have the right mentality the first half, and then in the second half, everything goes to [pieces], so as leaders we’ve got to do better; I’ve got to do better,’’ guard Zach LaVine said. “It’s not going to change until each one of us individually comes together and says, ‘Enough.’ It’s not like we’re not trying, but it’s obviously not enough.’’
And coach Billy Donovan believes the reasons are simple: too much fouling, a lack of rebounds and turnovers. Untimely turnovers were the latest culprit.
The momentum change came in the third quarter, and it seemed oh-so familiar for the Bulls (22-26). Many of their meltdowns have taken place in the third, and this time it nullified 2½ quarters of solid work.
After a pull-up jumper by Ayo Dosunmu with 5:52 left in the third quarter, the lead was up to 10. Not for long. After a turnover by Dosunmu, a missed shot by DeRozan and an errant pass by Nikola Vucevic, the game was tied.
Then it was a dogfight the rest of the way out, and only one dog was biting. The Hornets (14-36) outscored the Bulls 34-17 in the fourth quarter.
Neither team shot the lights out, but the Bulls went 4-for-26 from three-point range, and that just wasn’t going to get it done.
The Bulls have only six more games left before the trade deadline, and executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas set the bar at a second-round playoff series in the fall. It seems like they aren’t headed in that direction.
That’s why Donovan was asked if he felt a move needed to be made to shake up the roster.
“I believe it’s in there, and we have to figure out as coaches and players how to pull it out of each other,’’ Donovan said. “I’m not at a point where I can say this just can’t work. There’s too much substance of good guys that want to do the right things and care.
“We just have to be desperate. I don’t know of any other way to say it. We can’t just line up and play, and everything is going to work itself out, and we’re going to wait for the fourth quarter and close this thing out.’’
Not this season. And not when Vucevic, DeRozan and LaVine combine for a minus-72.
What say you on the trade topic, Zach?
“Whoever is on the team, I ride with ’em,’’ LaVine said. “I’m not the person in the front office making the decision.
“I believe in myself and I believe in the team, whoever is on the team.’’
