Bulls feel better as Wizards pay visit (Dec 21, 2016)
CHICAGO -- In winning three straight games, the Washington Wizards found ways to make all the plays they needed to before their streak was snapped Monday night.
The Chicago Bulls, meanwhile, were just happy to see what was a miserable week's worth of games finally draw to a close with a blowout victory over one sub-.500 team before another one -- Washington -- comes for a visit Wednesday night
The Bulls won for the first time in four games with a 113-82 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Monday night. The win came at a much-needed time for Chicago, which lost on back-to-back nights to Milwaukee after falling in stunning fashion when the Bulls blew a 21-point lead in a loss to Minnesota last week.
A 31-point victory at home proved to be just the remedy before the Wizards come in looking for their fourth win in five games
Chicago (14-13) shot a season-best 59.8 percent from the floor and tied a season-high with 34 assists on 49 field goals. Jimmy Butler led a parade of seven scorers who reached double figures for a team that was glad to finally experience a positive outcome following three head-scratching losses.
"We needed this in the worst way," Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg told reporters after Monday's victory. "Last week was an embarrassing week for everybody. Guys played for each other. I thought we played as complete of a game as we have all season."
Now, the Bulls will try to back up Monday's bounce-back game with a victory over a losing team. Chicago, which has posted wins over the likes of Cleveland and San Antonio this year, hasn't fared nearly as well as teams with losing records.
Hosting a Wizards team that saw a three-game winning streak stopped Monday night with a 107-105 loss to Indiana provides a gauge of what the Bulls may have learned during their recent struggles.
"We studied," Butler told reporters after Monday's victory. "Everybody took the criticism that they very well deserved and learned from it. We got back in the gym and got better."
The Wizards (12-15) have been better of late as well. Washington came within an eye lash of extending its winning streak to four games against the Pacers Monday night. But what Bradley Beal thought was a go-ahead 3-point field goal with 15 seconds remaining turned out to be instead a game-tying basket that Indiana responded to for the win before the Wizards missed a last-second shot.
Losing in such disappointing fashion proved to be a tough pill to swallow for Washington, which has struggled on the road (2-9).
"It's a little more frustrating," Wizards guard John Wall told the Washinton Post after Monday's loss. "(Monday was) a game we played well. We got stops when we needed. We executed the game plan that we wanted. Even the last shot, we got a good look."
But even in a loss, Wizards coach Scott Brooks hopes his team can use a performance like Monday's as a positive before they face the Bulls.
"I just want our guys to keep their heads up and get ready for the next game," Brooks told reporters.
