10 observations: Bulls blow 21-point lead, fall to Nets in 4th straight loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
NEW YORK — The Chicago Bulls lost their fourth straight and seventh in eight games when the Brooklyn Nets stormed back to prevail 118-109 Sunday night at Barclays Center.
“It is tough when you’re 5-13. It’s not what we expected. But it’s the reality of it and we have to face it,” Nikola Vucevic said. “The only way out of it is we stick together and try to find a way to turn it around. It’s not going to be easy. Our schedule doesn’t get any easier either ahead of us. But we just have to find a way. We put ourselves in this position and we’re the only ones who can get us out of it.”
Here are 10 observations from the loss:
—The Bulls won the first quarter for just the fifth time in 18 games. They also overcame their recent habit of falling behind by double digits in the first quarter. In fact, they opened with a 7-0 run to force a timeout from Nets coach Jacque Vaughn. They extended the run to 13-0, 22-3 and 30-9 as their largest lead of the first. That included 8-of-10 start from 3-point range.
“It felt great,” Zach LaVine said.
—Here was coach Billy Donovan pregame about the slow starts.
“We’re coming into games sometimes seeing how the game is going. And I don’t think that’s a good thing,” he said. “We have to come out with more force than we have.
“Vooch and DeMar (DeRozan) aren’t going to be these speed merchants up and down the floor. But there can be more force to us. It’s not so much that we have to play this racehorse basketball. But there has to be more force and physicality at the basket. There has to be more physicality at the point of screen. There has to be more physicality running offense instead of, ‘OK.’ We have to go with force. When we get down, that’s when we come back and play with a level of force.”
—Alex Caruso missed his third game of the season with the strained left toe he re-aggravated on Friday night in Toronto when Coby White inadvertently stepped on Caruso’s foot. Caruso warmed up trying to play but Patrick Williams drew the start in Caruso’s absence.
—Williams helped the Bulls’ impressive start by scoring 11 points in the first quarter without missing a shot. That included three 3-pointers. Williams stepped into each shot with confidence and without hesitation. In general, the Bulls did a good job of getting the ball inside either by pass or penetration and then…