After pulling off back-to-back wins without guard Zach LaVine, the Chicago Bulls might have been starting to inspire confidence in their ability to hold onto a spot in the NBA play-in tournament despite the absence of their best player.
But a number of issues were exposed once again during Wednesday night’s 121-105 beatdown on the road against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
With 14 games remaining in the season, the Bulls fell out of the No. 10 seed and final spot in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament.
Rather than build off the momentum of their last two wins, the Bulls came out flat and uninspired from the beginning of the game. It was yet another lifeless performance by a team supposedly fighting for its playoff life.
They scored 12 points in the first quarter, a season low for any period. At halftime, they nearly had as many turnovers (12) as field goals (15). No Bulls player reached double figures until there were about four minutes remaining in the third quarter. The Bulls never led, trailed by as many as 33 points and gave Cleveland 23 points off their 20 turnovers.
Nikola Vucevic had scored at least 10 points in 106 consecutive games, the fifth-longest active streak in the NBA, before he finished with nine points Wednesday. Lauri Markkanen came off the bench to lead the Bulls in scoring with 16 points. Daniel Theis and Thaddeus Young also each scored 14 points.
The Cavs were paced by guards Collin Sexton (30 points, seven assists) and Darius Garland (25 points, four assists).
