Chicago Bulls

Chicago Bulls at Sacramento Kings Analysis: Bulls (almost) blow big lead

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 12:14 p.m. ET

Fansided, Dru Berry/FanSided via Pippen Ain't Easy

The Chicago Bulls were trying to improve to 2-1 on their road trip on Monday, again without Jimmy Butler’s help. Cristiano Felicio was also out for a depleted Bulls team that squeaked out a big road win over the Sacramento Kings.

Jimmy Butler was out yet again against the Sacramento Kings, so Chicago went with Michael Carter-Williams in his place again. In a rematch of a game that ended with some controversy, this game had its share as well.

Here’s what happened in a frustratingly close Chicago Bulls win against the Kings on Monday night.

First Quarter

The first quarter was a perfect mix of everything going right for the Bulls and everything going wrong for the Kings. The Bulls couldn’t miss, and Michael Carter-Williams kept up his hot play from the Houston game.

Fred Hoiberg let Taj Gibson play DeMarcus Cousins, and he did a great job. Even Robin Lopez did a decent job on Boogie, and the Bulls would often send a second defender to get the ball out of Boogie’s hands. Cousins finished the first quarter with three points.

To assist Chicago, Sacramento was downright dreadful. Coming off an impressive win against the Golden State Warriors, the Kings decided to take off the first quarter. They finished the quarter shooting 5-of-20 from the field, 1-of-7 from 3, and topped it off with six turnovers.

End of the first: Chicago leads 27-11

Second quarter

The Kings remembered how to play basketball in the second frame, and the Bulls helped them with some mental lapses on defense. Sacramento shot 12-of-18 in the quarter, but weren’t able to make up ground due to Chicago’s continued hot shooting.

Rajon Rondo was converting layups around the rim (read that one more time), ripping up fools, and generally playing well. He had four points and five assists to accompany three steals in the first half, and looked as engaged as one could expect.

Carter-Williams continued to attack the basket with success, and wasn’t having any of Ty Lawson trying to get to the rim for an easy layup.

Carter-Williams play of late has made his two week benching even more curious, but this is a season full of questions, not answers.

After stumbling a bit in the second quarter, the Bulls picked it back up and went into halftime with a comfortable 60-45 lead.

Third Quarter

The third quarter saw Chicago push their lead to 27 with a little over four minutes left. The starters were looking nice, as Jerian Grant/MCW/Dwyane Wade managed to not only co-exist on offense, but thrive. Wade and MCW took an absolute torch to Sacramento’s backcourt of Darren Collison and Ben McLemore, outscoring them 35-4.

The fun really got started at the end of the quarter. Gibson converted a layup off a Paul Zipser to close out the period, then got called for a technical foul after the quarter ended. Jim Boylen rushed out to try and get Gibson off the floor, but instead got mixed up with Cousins and Matt Barnes. Boylen got shoved somewhere in the middle of all that mess, and Cousins and Barnes also got hit with technical fouls.

All in all it was a wild finish to an otherwise ordinary quarter, but a sign of the excitement to come. Chicago headed into the fourth quarter in complete control, leading 85-69.

Fourth Quarter

In the fourth, things got interesting. It was fouls galore, and Sacramento started to mount a run. All of the Bulls major flaws were on display as the Kings cut the lead. The ball stopped moving, bricks were being laid, and 3-point shooters were being left wide open to rain triples.

Bad Rondo came out, falling asleep on defense and throwing a head scratching no-look, behind the legs pass that never had a chance.