Nikola Vucevic played just 21 minutes in a 145-117 dismantling by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Even though he had very few minutes, Vucevic was -24. Somehow, he wasn’t the worst starter on the team in that regard, as Coby White was an astonishing -39. The Chicago Bulls were soundly defeated, but Vucevic isn’t sweating it.
Nikola Vucevic isn’t sweating the brutal loss to the Thunder
Despite the shellacking, Vucevic said it’s best to move on from it and look to the next game. “There is disappointment when you lose by such a big margin; you never want to lose by 30 in a game and play the way we played,” said the center, one of many players who never played beyond the middle of the third quarter to rest in what was a totally lost game.
“It’s the NBA,” he said. “You can’t be disappointed or happy too long. We had a real good stretch and now we’ve lost two in a row. Now we have to regroup and get ready for tomorrow and play better.”
Josh Giddey, who’d been playing really well, finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists in his first visit to Paycom Center as an opposing player, but he had one point and two turnovers as the Thunder defense harassed him in the opening quarter.
He lamented the loss. “We couldn’t make a shot. They are the best defensive team in the league. They make it tough on you. We turned the ball over too much, myself included. We dug ourselves a hole and couldn’t find a way out of it. That is the best team in the league for a reason,” he said.
Giddey also said it painted a clear picture of the gap between the Bulls and teams like the Thunder. If they want to get to that level, Giddey says, they have to step it up. That includes himself, but it is a team-wide mandate to play better.
Even Billy Donovan was upset with the performance, though he was a little more realistic about their chances in the first place. “I was really disappointed, quite honestly,” the coach said. “We could have played our very best game and still not won, but I was disappointed. They are a very good team and have been the most consistent team in the league.”
The Bulls will try to regroup tonight when they take on the lowly Toronto Raptors in Chicago on the second night of a back-to-back.
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