Bulls reports: Bulls falter in crucial game against Magic, allowing a difficult one to get away.
Particularly for a club that chose to remain inactive at the trade deadline on Thursday, the emphasis was on the future and winning games.
The Bulls made some crucial errors in the closing minutes, including a DeMar DeRozan dunk that cost them in overtime. Now, with the trade deadline behind the team, it’s about looking ahead.AP/John Raoux
Orlando, Florida — For the Bulls, the trade deadline and all the hoopla surrounding it had finally passed.
Saturday’s mentality was forward-thinking, which was coach Billy Donovan’s easy task.
“In my opinion, I wouldn’t strictly use the term relief,'” Donovan stated on life after the deadline. I’ve always adopted the mindset that says, “This is our team.” Now, if it alters.
I always felt like it was a sensible strategy for me. I believe that when you start guessing, you become disoriented from the group in front of you since those are decisions that you may or may not be able to influence. It wasn’t as though the trade deadline had passed and I suddenly realized how relieved I was.
Donovan’s issue was that the matchup with the Magic wouldn’t provide him any respite either.
The Bulls (25-28) lost 114-108 to a club that was one position ahead of them in the Eastern Conference standings after blowing an 11-point lead in the third quarter and going down in overtime.
‘‘Yeah, we’re just trying to get every single win we can get,’’ said forward DeMar DeRozan, who led the Bulls with 28 points. ‘‘We’re desperate, trying to get every win. We’re right there, trying to string every game we can together.
‘‘You don’t want to drop games like this. There’s nothing we can do about it now. Get ready for Atlanta [on Monday], beat Atlanta, [then] get on to the next one.”
It will be a crucial one, considering the Hawks trail the Bulls by one game in the battle for the No. 9 spot in the conference.
With the Bulls trailing by three with less than two minutes left in regulation, DeRozan had a layup blocked by Goga Bitadze. Franz Wagner then made two free throws to boost the Magic’s lead to five.
But the Bulls came back thanks to a three-pointer by DeRozan and a vicious one-handed dunk by Ayo Dosunmu to force OT.
The Magic truly seized control at the beginning of overtime, led by a dunk by Bitadze and a jumper by Wagner (36 points).
After playing catch-up for the remainder of the extra period, the Bulls were eliminated after DeRozan missed an open dunk with 8.1 seconds remaining.
Donovan remarked, “I thought we had some decent looks.” “To be really honest, we were kind of running on fumes during that overtime.”
