DETROIT — The advertising screens lining the scorer’s table at Little Caesars Arena bore the signs of Nikola Vučević’s frustration.
Vučević held it in for two quarters. But as the Chicago Bulls center headed to the locker room after shooting 4-for-11 in the first half, he aimed a single kick at the sideline table. One panel of the lengthy screen positioned in front of Chicago Sports Network broadcasters Stacey King and Adam Amin carried the brunt of the damage, remaining black for the rest of the game.
The veteran center has been known to whip a towel at the bench or flip a middle finger at an opponent or growl at his teammates to go away during walk-off interviews. But Wednesday’s 108-93 loss to the Detroit Pistons poked at an exposed nerve of dissatisfaction that has been slowly peeled back throughout this 17-20 season.
“It was just some of the mistakes I was making,” Vučević said. “Just me personally. I wasn’t doing a good job matching up with the physicality. Some of the shots and mistakes that I made — it was just frustrating.”
Vučević is frustrated. At 35, he’s being asked to shoulder one of the heftiest workloads of his career to pick up the slack for injured teammates Jalen Smith and Zach Collins. And he’s tired — of losing, of getting left on an island on the low block as his teammates struggle to help off the ball.
But Vučević can’t funnel that frustration into productivity. He’s not fast enough to contest on the perimeter, not strong enough to body up on younger centers down low. His 2-point shot isn’t falling.
Wednesday’s game embodied the dichotomy of Vučević’s role on the Bulls. He supplied a quarter of the team’s points and rebounds. He also fumbled against the physicality supplied at scale by the Pistons.
The Bulls can’t survive right now without Vučević. He’s one of only four or five viable playmakers on the roster who’s currently healthy enough to play every night. But the Bulls also can’t win with his current rim protection — a futility that hangs over the veteran in every game.
The Pistons were designed to vex Vučević — particularly Isaiah Stewart. A stocky 6-foot-8 and 250 pounds, Stewart gobbles up matchups against lengthier bigs such as Vučević who rely on their touch and mobility in the paint. Stewart entered the game with a clear aim to bowl Vučević over — and he succeeded, scoring 31 points while missing only two shots inside the arc.
The final box score didn’t reflect the fitfulness of Wednesday’s loss — after all, Vučević finished with 20 points and 16 rebounds as the Bulls’ second-highest scorer.
But for long stretches, Vučević couldn’t engage on defense. He bickered with teammate Dalen Terry when the Pistons carved a wide-open drive to the rim. He didn’t even come off his feet when the Pistons began to lob passes over the top to Stewart, who was eager to launch himself out of the dunker spot for the easy finish. And Detroit ultimately outlasted the Bulls because of its ability to overpower in the paint.
This was an undermanned outing for both teams. Cade Cunningham (bruised right wrist) and Jalen Duren (sprained right ankle) sat out for the Pistons. In addition to Josh Giddey, Collins and Smith, the Bulls were without guard Coby White for the first night of a back-to-back that concludes with a home game Thursday against the Miami Heat.
Although White said he felt strong after a workout Tuesday, the medical team opted to hold him out for an additional day of rest with the aim of playing in Chicago. He missed three games before Monday with a flare-up of a lingering calf injury that has sidelined him for 19 games this season.
Here are three takeaways from the loss.
1. Ayo Dosunmu racked up the points.
As the Bulls seek new outlets of production amid their injuries, Dosunmu has been a rare source of stability off the bench. He continued that buoyant support in Wednesday’s loss, scoring 24 points on 10-for-15 shooting.
The Bulls offense has stagnated in the absence of White and Giddey, reflected in their struggles to break 100 points the last three games (93, 101 and 112). For the foreseeable future, Dosunmu’s versatility will be key for the Bulls to sustain playmaking. He lifted the tempo in the open court, went 4-for-6 behind the arc and forced the issue at the rim.
2. Offensive boards and turnovers.
Despite their lack of success this season, the Bulls can stay competitive in almost any matchup by limiting two statistics: turnovers and opponent offensive rebounds.
The Bulls kept pace with the Pistons in the first three quarters by matching them in points off turnovers (11) and second-chance points. The Pistons strive to operate as a hive mind on defense, swarming the ball with prolific pressure that results in turnovers. Detroit ranks third in the league in steals per game (10.2) and second in opponent turnovers (17.2).
Maintaining possession under this pressure was an achievement for the Bulls in the opening 36 minutes. But they allowed seven points off five turnovers in the fourth quarter while also giving up five second-chance points, a quick succession of mistakes that helped the Pistons carve out a double-digit lead.
3. Matas Buzelis had a block party.
Although it wasn’t enough to fully deter the Pistons offense, Buzelis showed off his defensive timing with four blocked shots.
On his final block in the third quarter, Buzelis knocked a shot by Paul Reed deep into the backcourt, then sprinted after the loose ball to knock down a 3-pointer before a single Pistons player could make it across the half-court line.
Buzelis ranks 14th in the NBA with 1.41 blocked shots per game, and his 52 total blocks ranks 11th.
