DeRozan and LaVine combine for 56, as Bulls beat Wizards, 102-82

The Chicago Bulls played host to the Washinton Wizards Sunday afternoon, with focus on closing the gap in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls went into today’s game with a record of 27-33. The Washington Wizards on the other hand, were 28-31.

In what seemed like a must win game at this point in the season, the Bulls came out victorious, by a score of 102-82. Not only did the Bulls win back-to-back games for the first time in nearly a month, they also won them in convincing fashion.

The Bulls once again showed up on the defensive end of the floor, forcing the Wizards to shoot 42% from the field, and an abysmal 21% from deep. Patrick Beverley and Alex Caruso once again brought the energy, hustling for loose balls and blocking shots.

Offensively, the stars came to play. Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan combined for 56 points while both shooting over 60% from the field. Nikola Vucevic also packed the stat sheet, scoring 16 points of his own to go along with 13 rebounds.

The Chicago Bulls have shown ‘new life’ post All-star break.

Coby White was certainly the surprise of the afternoon, recording 17 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in only 25 minutes of action. Those points came efficiently too, as White shot 75% from the field. All 3 of his makes from behind the arc came in the 4th quarter, ultimately putting the game away.

However, the most telling stat of the afternoon was turnover differential. The Bulls finished +5 in turnover differential, but the difference was actually larger than that. After 9 turnovers in the first half, the Bulls didn’t turn the ball over again until late in the 4th quarter, when the game was already decided. This stat often determines the outcome of games, and it certainly did here today.

The entire team seems to be playing with a different type of energy since the All-star break. The Bulls hope carry this momentum into the last 21 games of the season. After the win over Washington the Bulls are only .5 games out of the play-in tournament.

What’s Next? The Chicago Bulls head to Toronto on Tuesday Feb. 28th to play the 30-32 Raptors.