Chicago Sports Exchange: Unexpected Sources Boost Bulls To Slump-Busting Victory
The Chicago Bulls’ signing of journeyman Garrett Temple was met with a chorus of shrugs in November.
It may be safe to say the tunes surrounding Temple are a little livelier after his work in helping the Bulls top Dallas 117-101 Sunday to snap a four-game losing streak.
In a game in which the starting backcourt duo of Zach LaVine and Coby White combined to shoot 1-for-13 from the field for just 10 points — all from LaVine — Temple more than picked up their slack. The 11-year vet, who has played for nine other teams, nearly outscored a depleted Mavericks bench by himself with 21 points, 15 of which were a part of a 40-point second-quarter that carried the Bulls to a 15-point lead at halftime.
Temple also dished out three assists with two steals and a block. Thad Young and Otto Porter Jr. chipped in 15 points and 14 points, respectively. The trio helped the Bulls to 61-22 advantage in bench points.
BUY - Bulls Learn Lesson After Embarrassing OKC Loss
A day after having to look in the mirror at their unraveling in Oklahoma City, the Bulls tightened up on their resolve — and ball security — in a 117-101 victory in Dallas.
The Bulls (5-8) led the undermanned Mavericks by as many as 19 points and maintained a double-digit advantage throughout the fourth quarter. Zach LaVine, who set a franchise record for consecutive games with at least seven three-pointers, didn’t get his only points from the field until the third quarter. He finished with 10 points and notched 10 of the team’s 32 assists.
In his second game back from health and safety protocols, Lauri Markkanen scored 29 points to go along with 10 rebounds. Both season highs. Markkanen led six Bulls who scored in double figures.
The win snapped a string of four consecutive losses, the last of which came in overtime despite holding a 16-point fourth-quarter lead over the Thunder and prompted head coach Billy Donovan to have the team watch every second of its collapse in practice Saturday. That the Bulls committed five less turnovers (13) than their season average and league-worst mark (18.3) would suggest it worked.
The Bulls host Houston tonight and will look to claim victory in the back-end of back-to-back games for the first time in four tries. Friday, the Bulls begin a weekend back-to-back that sees them travel to Charlotte Friday before getting a second crack at the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers Saturday evening.
SELL - Bears Digging Deep Hole Regarding Credibility
Somehow, the Bears gave their worst performance of the season three days after it officially ended.
Last week’s year-end press conference in which Chairman George McCaskey explained why a front-office shakeup wasn’t in the works for his team that rolled in mediocrity for a second straight season, left Bears fans feeling emptier and more resentful than any lopsided loss ever could.
In his mind, consecutive wins against three teams with losing records held more weight than the six-game collapse that preceded it; progress was ultimately measured not by how the Bears stacked up against the rest of their conference compared to a season ago, but by Darnell Mooney’s historic rookie campaign; back-to-back 8-8 seasons, two Wild Card playoff exits and one outlier winning season weren’t as damning for general manager Ryan Pace as his relationship with head coach Matt Nagy was redeeming.
This is what complacency looks like.
And it bears little resemblance to the once-proud charter franchise that fans across the Chicago sports spectrum (Bulls, Cubs, White Sox, and Blackhawks) could all get behind.
SELL - Blackhawks Setting New Futility Standard To Start Season
It didn’t take long for the Blackhawks to figure out just how far below the bar they are from competitive hockey.
Three games into a season in which they’ll be without Kirby Dach and Alex Nylander — and possibly even their captain Jonathan Toews — the Hawks (0-3-0) were outscored 15-5 (5-1, 5-2 and 5-2) in contests against the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers. This is the first time they’ve gone pointless through a season’s first three games since 1997-98 and only the 10th time it’s happened in franchise history.
On a positive note, Patrick Kane’s 634th career regular-season assist on an Alex DeBrincat goal in the second period tied Neal Broten for eighth place on the NHL's all-time list among players born in the U.S.
The Hawks stay on the road against the Panthers again Tuesday before hosting Detroit for a pair of games Friday and Sunday.
BUY - Sky Reward Winning Wade With Contract Extension
In news that could’ve been seen from a mile away, the Sky signed general manager and head coach James Wade to a multi-year extension last week.
The decision to keep the former WNBA Coach of the Year, who also has a 32-24 record and a pair of playoff appearances to his name after two years at the wheel, under contract through the next five seasons should have been a no-brainer.
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What’s not clear is what Wade will do to bolster his defense that was only middle-of-the-pack good last season. Or if resigning Cheyenne Parker, who is coming off of a career year will force him to look toward the trade market to do so.
Wade has already proven himself to be shrewd (see his swap of 2019 first round pick Katie Lou Samuelson for Azura Stevens) in the past. So there’s no reason to believe he’s short on ideas on how to direct the Sky past the second round for the first time since 2016.
BUY - Red Stars Signing Spree Includes Famous Athlete Daughter
Is there such thing as an off-season efficiency rating?
In a matter of just two days, the Red Stars acquired the rights to five new players and re-signed a dozen more.
The Red Stars selected two-time national champion Stanford Cardinal forward Madison Haley with the seventh pick in last Wednesday’s NWSL draft. Kelsey Turnbow, Brianna Alger, Channing Foster, and Naperville native Alissa Gorzak rounded out the rest of their picks. Turnbow won’t join the team until next year having opted to return to Santa Clara to finish her master’s degree.
Haley is the daughter of five-time Super Bowl champion Charles Haley. Also of note, Trinity Rodman, the daughter of former Chicago Bull and five-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman, was taken second overall by the Washington Spirit.
Among the players who re-signed with the Red Stars — some of whom did so just hours before the draft — was midfielder Nikki Stanton, who, after spending two years with the club, left to play in Norway last season.