There weren’t many bright spots for the Bulls in Saturday’s loss to Memphis, but rookie forward Matas Buzelis provided some hope for the future, writes Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. Buzelis scored 12 of his career-high 14 points during an electrifying stretch in the second quarter as he displayed his many offensive talents.
As Mayberry describes, Buzelis viciously attacked the rim on drives to the basket, displayed confidence on catch-and-shoot three-point shots and flexed toward the crowd after finishing a fast break with a tomahawk dunk. After sinking his first three-pointer, Buzelis turned to the Grizzlies’ bench and stared down Ja Morant, who is sidelined with an injury.
“Ja said, ‘It’s off’ or something like that; ‘Hell no,’” Buzelis explained after the game. “And I just looked at him. I didn’t really say anything.”
The Bulls were fortunate that Buzelis fell to them with the 11th pick in the draft after he had been projected to go much higher. The team has been bringing him along slowly, but they needed him for 29 minutes on Saturday with Patrick Williams sidelined by foot inflammation and Julian Phillips missing the game due to illness. Buzelis’ performance may be an indication that he’s ready for a larger role for the rest of the season.
“The biggest thing that I respect about him,” coach Billy Donovan said, “is that I think he understands the importance of the little things. And I think that’s an area of focus that he’s been trying to really focus on.”
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