4 takeaways from the Chicago Bulls’ loss to the Toronto Raptors, including a third-quarter breakdown and Dalen Terry’s injury

Julian Phillips seldom sees the flooring for the Chicago Bulls. When he does, the 20-year-old novice makes an impression.

It took just minutes for Phillips to stand apart in Sunday’s win over the Portland Trail Blazersbounding through the air for a two-handed volleyball-style block. And Phillips made another splashy impression on the United Center crowd in the opening minutes of Tuesday’s 118-107 loss to the Toronto Raptors, sinking a 3-pointer and drawing a nasty to score his very first points in the opening quarter.

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Impressions are essential. If the Bulls are going to make it through the approximately 2 weeks left before the All-Star break, Phillips will require to fill a substantial function.

The Bulls are presently playing without a power forward as both Patrick Williams and Torrey Craig are sidelined with injuries for a minimum of 2 more weeks. Coach Billy Donovan prepares to fill the function with a mix of Phillips and guard Alex Caruso.

It’s challenging for a group to depend on the consistency of a 20-year-old novice. Phillips has actually revealed through his very first 2 video games stepping up in Williams’ stead that he can dependably supply one crucial aspect: energy.

“Young guys, they’re going to have their ups and downs,” Donovan stated. “Sometimes for more youthful gamers, these circumstances develop chances and I provide him credit for keeping himself all set and offering us a truly great increase off the bench. I got a lot of self-confidence in him in terms of the method he has actually worked to prepare himself to go in there. I believe his athleticism and his energy, if we get that into the video game regularly, that will be simply as similarly as essential as making shots.”

Phillips tallied 9 points and a rebound off the bench in Tuesday’s loss. Here are 3 other takeaways.

The Bulls suffered yet another injury blow in the last 30 seconds of the 3rd quarter when Dalen Terry appeard to hurt his ideal ankle.

Terry took down the court to try a layup in shift however crashed into 2 Toronto gamers before toppling awkwardly on top of a number of professional photographers on the sideline. Noticeably in discomfort/,/ Terry tried to stand two times before collapsing to the ground to hold his ankle. He was reached the locker space by training personnel and did not put anymore weight on his foot.

Donovan stated after the video game X-rays returned unfavorable for Terry and his injury has actually been detected as a sprain. He was utilizing crutches in the locker space.

The loss is considerable for the Bulls, who are currently playing without Zach LaVine, Williams and Craig. Terry was expected to be among the gamers to assist soak up minutes at power forward. Without him, the Bulls will need to rely exclusively on Caruso and Phillips to cover the position.

The Bulls remained in a dominant position in the very first half, tallying a 16-point lead by halftime. They continued to duplicate a pattern of coming out slow to begin the 2nd half, permitting the Raptors to outscore them 37-26 in the 3rd quarter.

The Raptors connected the video game with 2:46 left in the 3rd quarter.

“We can’t alleviate our method back into the 2nd half of a video game,” DeRozan stated. “We’ve got to lead. We’ve got to come out and develop on it. I believe we attempted to relieve our method back into the video game once again rather of simply attempting to put the foot on the gas and have fun with more of a sense of seriousness. It’s a crucial time, a crucial point of the season where we require every video game.”

The Bulls have actually been regularly strong at ball defense throughout this season, however high-turnover nights have actually sustained their losses the last 3 weeks.

On Tuesday, the Bulls spent 30 points off 17 turnovers– 21 of which were scored in the 2nd half. DeMar DeRozan turned the ball over 5 times as the Raptors tossed traps to require the ball out of his hands.

This was a little balanced out by the Raptors quiting 14 points on 19 turnovers, however the Bulls were not able to comprise the distinction.

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