Playing without countless key players, the Bulls gave the defending champion Bucks a run for their money on Friday.
When the Bulls announced 30 minute before tipoff that Tyler Cook was to make his first start of the season – taking the power forward spot Alfonzo McKinnie has held the last three games – it was obvious head coach Billy Donovan planned to hand him the Giannis Antetokounmpo defensive assignment.
But give Cook, a two-way player who returned from an ankle sprain just one game ago, credit for this: He didn’t back down, and had some highlight plays of his own, including a rip-away steal and multiple offensive foul draws. Plus, he supplied his typical energy on the glass, pulling down seven rebounds, and dunked home four points. His minutes were more than solid given the circumstances.
DeRozan also posted his 11th 30-spot of the season with 35 points on 9-for-18 shooting – 8-for-13 from the midrange. The defeat marks just the third time in 22 games the Bulls have lost when DeRozan scored more than 25 points. But he kept them afloat for much of it. and Ayo Dosunmu combined to shoot 5-for-24 from the field, with White a ghastly 0-for-9 from 3-point range . As mentioned earlier, many of those looks were good ones.