Observations: Bulls avoid collapse, nab win before All-Star

The Bulls fought off a potentially seismic New Orleans Pelicans comeback to secure a 128-124 road victory to close out their first-half schedule.

Here are 15 observations:

1. Billy Donovan has displayed a penchant for quick timeouts, but Stan Van Gundy whistled for the first one tonight after the Bulls sprinted out to an 8-0 start.

2. The Bulls' foul-happiness reared its head against one of the most magnetic foul-drawers in the league in Zion Williamson. Williamson attempted 8 free throws in the first quarter (matching his season average that entered the night sixth in the NBA) as the Pelicans drew 15 charity-stripe trips to help them trim their deficit to 26-25.

Williamson ended the night 8-for-16 from the foul line. The Pelicans as a team shot 38 free throws (making just 26) to the Bulls' 22.

3. Behind some strong bench play to start, and a 20-4 run to close, the Bulls won the second quarter 38-20 to enter the half ahead 64-45.

4. The Bulls' commanded a double-digit lead for most of the second half, but the Pelicans stormed back in the fourth, trimming an at one time 18-point lead (with 8:24 to play) to four with 1:49 to go. 

Key to that near comeback was Jaxson Hayes and Williamson, who each poured in 10 points in the final frame. But free-throw shooting sunk them. New Orleans made just 10 of 15 from the charity stripe in the fourth (26-for-38, 68.4 percent, on the night). The game's defining sequence came when Williamson missed two straight free throws, followed by Wendell Carter Jr. putting back a crucial offensive rebound with 65 seconds to play to pull the Bulls ahead 119-113.

5. Carter, for that matter, pulled down 15 rebounds. His 7 offensive boards helped the Bulls win the second-chance points battle 20-10, and he played key minutes down the stretch.

(Yes, he also shot 3-for-11 from the field. But he did make his only 3-point try to move him to 3-for-5 in nine games since returning from injury, and dished 4 assists without a turnover.)

6. The Bulls held the Pelicans to 6-for-22 (27.3 percent) shooting from 3-point range; they entered play No. 1 in the NBA in opponent 3-point attempts per game (29) and opponent 3-point percentage (32 percent) since Feb. 1.

7. The Bulls did, however, foul three Pelicans 3-point shooters, continuing a maddening trend. Two of those 3-shot fouls came in the final minute of the fourth quarter -- both with multiple-possession leads.

That, along with the general near-collapse, makes what once looked like it could be a resounding victory one that should raise a few eyebrows about this team's oft-questioned late-game execution. It ends a four-point victory, but a Brandon Ingram 3 made it a two-point game in the final ticks.

8. They didn't quite get to 76 this time around, but Zach LaVine (36) and Coby White (25) combined for 61 points in this one -- 45 of those came in the first three quarters.

LaVine posted his eventual 36 points (his 17th 30-spot of the season and 11th with 35 or more) on 12-for-19 shooting and added 8 assists. His 21 consecutive games with 20-plus points is the longest streak by a player in the NBA this season. White's 4-for-7 mark from 3-point range snaps a cold streak (3-for-19) over his last three contests.

9. Four of LaVine's eight assists went to Thad Young, who scored 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting. Their screen-and-roll connection continues to be a boon for the Bulls, as does Young's savviness on the defensive end (he swatted three shots and swiped a steal).

10. An encouraging sign on the whole: Four of the Bulls' five starters ended the night with positive plus-minuses, with Carter, Garrett Temple and LaVine all +15 or better. The reserves have often done that heavy lifting this season.

11. The one starter that didn't: Patrick Williams. Three first-half fouls (two on Williamson) stymied a strong start for the rookie, who scored 7 points on 3-for-3 shooting in the first quarter. But he opened the third with a quick 4 points and one assist, and ended the night with 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting.

And though Williamson got his -- with 28 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists -- Williams made his life difficult for stretches; Williams notched three blocks in the fourth.

12. The Bulls placed five players in double-figures, dished 28 assists and shot 51.1 percent from the floor. In two games against the Pelicans this season, they averaged 32 assists and shot 54.9 percent. New Orleans entered play with the NBA's 29th-rated defense for a reason.

13. The Bulls won the paint 64-54 and the glass 45-35 against a team with a notable size advantage.

14. Daniel Gafford briefly re-entered the rotation for six minutes with Luke Kornet out for personal reasons. 

15. The Bulls snapped a two-game schneid in their last contest before the All-Star break. This victory doesn't do much to assuage concerns in close games (though they do now move to 10-12 in games within a five-point margin with five minutes or less to play) or against good teams (they remain 4-12 against teams .500 or above), but they end the first half of the season 16-18, ahead of most preseason prognostications.

Next up: The All-Star break.

POSTGAME REPORT

Donovan, on the near-collapse: "They need to understand how to close games better than that... I'm not taking anything away from our guys, I thought coming off two losses off two really good teams in Denver and Phoenix -- and that's (the Pelicans) a good team, they've played really good basketball -- I did not want to take away the effort our guys battled and fought and didn't fold. They didn't fold at the end."

LaVine, on the near-collapse: "They got into us a little bit defensively. We had some turnovers. That’s the game. Obviously, we wish it was a little bit easier than that because we worked so hard throughout the game and we were playing really well and we had them down. But I think we responded well. Other than that, we just kept fouling 3-point shooters... We’ve got to stop doing it."

Donovan, on Wendell Carter Jr.: "“I thought he rebounded tonight, he was a presence there, there was a physicality in him. He was really a good help defender, that offensive rebound was huge, a really, really big play. I think the thing for Wendell for him to realize his fullest potential, he’s way too hard on himself. You coach guys that are like that. He is very very, very critical of himself, has a really, really hard time at times of moving past things. But for him to realize his fullest potential he’s got to get to a place to realize how important he is to our team. How good of a player he is. And he’s just got to compete. Can he compete when he has some setbacks or mistakes? I thought he did that tonight."

Donovan, on the Bulls' growth: "I think about that first game against Atlanta (Hawks) back whenever it was there in December… and how we look now. Sometimes as a coach it’s hard to see. You are going day-by-day. But sometimes you go back and watch some of these games from earlier in the year and you are like, ‘Oh my god. This is tough.’ But they really have made really good progress. It’s not where we want to be, we’re not satisfied where we are at. We’ve got to keep striving to raise a level of play and a standard that is better than it was today. That’s the challenge."

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