The Chicago Bulls beat the Detroit Pistons 132-118 on Friday at the United Center. But despite their win, the Bulls extended a pattern of struggling to put away teams with lesser records.
, coming off the bench to tally eight points, two assists and two rebounds in 20 minutes. He splashed a 3-pointer to give the Bulls a 122-116 lead with 3:19 remaining.
Despite adjusting to take an eight-point lead after the first quarter, the Bulls deflated in the middle half of the game as the Pistons consistently pursued plays with a higher effort. The Bulls were outscored 33-27 in the second quarter, allowing the Piston to remain within three points through the end of the third.
Drummond scored the bulk of the Bulls’ bench points; the rest of the bench combined for only 17 points. This is not uncommon for a Bulls offense heavily anchored by the Big Three of LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vučević , but this group still requires scoring support to stay consistent through a full game.Before the game, Bulls coach Billy Donovan provided a hesitantly hopeful update on the recovery of Lonzo Ball, who has been sidelined since January with a left knee injury.