Woo, that was some slam dunk, that second quarter double pump, over the shoulder Bogdan cryin’, rim-ratlin’, Bulls battlin’, Thibs beggin’, Knicks dyin’, wham, bam Bulls bench boogey-in’ scene that was in the midst of the Bulls taking their biggest lead in Friday’s wire to wire, don’t-bring-that-weak stuff in here 108-100 Bulls victory over the New York Knicks.
So wasn’t it, Woo?
“It was a great feeling,” said Javonte Green, who put up career-bests with 25 points and 13 rebounds in just his fourth game back with the Bulls since knee surgery and a return stay in the G League. “I’m not going to help Andre pay the fine (Drummond, for the technical foul someone had to get when the Bulls bench erupted in dance with Green’s finish). “I feel like that’s my game, just bringing (energy) into the game and just playing as hard as I can. Bring excitement to the game and just play as hard as I can and try to help win each game for the team.”
Green did all that and more in the form of a living grenade, his stored energy exposed to the heat of the United Center fans, and the Bulls desperation to gain some traction for the home court ninth seed in the upcoming pre-playoffs play-in tournament.
The Bulls, 37-40 and effectively two games ahead of 10th place Atlanta with just five games left because of the tiebreaker, in the first of three games against the Knicks in these last 10 days controlled the game virtually throughout. And then in the everyone-makes-a-run category, the Bulls got a Green putback layup with 2:06 left in the game after the Knicks came the closest they would be since the first quarter when it was 101-97 Bulls.
Isaiah Hartenstein split two free throws after Green’s score, but then Nikola Vučević struck the shooter’s pose for a capper of a three and 106-98 lead with 1:33 left. Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 35 points and 11 assists, and then finished a pair of free throws. But Ayo Dosunmu matched that with another blur of a score with 1:12 left. And then after Donte DiVincenzo rebounded a Brunson miss with about a minute remaining and the Bulls leading by eight, it was another moment you just went woo as Green stole DiVincenzo pass and the Knicks passed (away, at least for this night).
Dosunmu had 24 points after igniting a 29-17 Bulls first quarter with 14 points, making 6-of-9 shots with a pair of threes. DeMar DeRozan added 20 points, pacing himself mostly until needed late with nine fourth-quarter points. In the Pat Riley rebounds equal rings category, the Bulls stole the Knicks valuables with a 57-38 domination on the boards. Vučević had 16 points and 13 rebounds and Drummond, who teamed with Vučević most of the fourth quarter, added 10 points and 16 rebounds.
But, whew, it was mostly a night for Woo, the nickname the Bulls players have for the energetic forward who simply just vaporized the Knicks in this game.
There was a lob dunk, and a dunk from the left baseline — appropriately named — dunker’s spot, there was a hard drive off the left wing, follows, cutbacks and what the heck, even a three in Green’s career night.
“Amazing,” marveled DeRozan. “I’ll never forget the game in Golden State (last season) when he hurt himself. It was a big blow for us, (losing) the energy, the enthusiastic style of play he brings. We needed a spark like Woo. For him to come back in a tough year for him, somebody we know and understand and we are comfortable with and we know what we're going to get, and we've been feeding off that.
"He's one of those guys you want to have on your team," DeRozan continued. "We all know what to expect from Woo. Every time he goes out there, he plays like he's 6-9 and he goes out there and does anything and whatever for the team. He also has that 'dawg' mentality in him to where once he steps on the court, there's no easing into anything. He dunks like he's 6-9, how fast he gets off the floor, how quick he is, how hard he dunks the ball. It’s incredible. The guy’s one of a kind. He makes it easy on all of us. There was a timeout he was telling Ayo to just throw the ball up. Like two possessions later he’s dunking it. Gets the crowd involved, gets us involved. He also makes up for a lot of mistakes. He knows how to be around the basketball and get steals; he does a lot of things that get us going.”
You know how maybe they say never too late?
Maybe the Bulls Green will be the kryptonite for at least the likely play-in tournament opponent Hawks.
Green came back to the Bulls on a 10-day contract that this week was converted to a regular NBA contract so he can be eligible for the post season games. The Bulls released Terry Taylor to create a spot for Green.
“For me personally what he went through this summer, not really finding a home and having to go to the G League, I think there’s always something to be said about guys who have had to go through what he went through as far as a hunger standpoint, small school, not really drafted, the end of Boston’s beach. An opportunity presents itself here and he’s hungry to play and the thing I respect and admire about him is he gets himself up and ready to play,” said Bulls coach Billy Donovan. “l’ve always been a Javonte Green fan, so when they (management) told me I said, ‘Yeah, I would love to have him back.’ He’s always been great to work with, great energy, great motor, great disposition, great in the locker room; the guys love him.”
The fans, too, as the Bulls without enough long distance shooting to compete with some of the top teams look like they may be able to rely on this sort of frenetic play to counter some of their deficiencies.
That took a bit of a hit, though, Friday as Coby White and Alex Caruso both left the game after ankle sprains. Donovan said he didn’t know yet the severity, but both appeared to be moving reasonably well in the locker room after the game.
White could not start the second half, so he was replaced by Green, who had been first off the bench earlier in the game. Green also took Caruso’s closing defensive role. Caruso actually did what I thought was the most impressive defensive game on a 35-point scorer. Which also suggests how good Brunson is as perhaps a legitimate league MVP candidate with a Knicks team that doesn’t look like its 45-32 record.
They did lose Julius Randle for the season and rugged regular Josh Hart was ejected late in the first quarter for kicking Green (there he was again), though it seemed obviously unintentional.
That being to everyone but referee Scott Foster.
It was a big break for the Bulls.
Still, Caruso picked up Brunson full court, drew charges as Brunson got screens, forced other Knicks to make plays with the ball, and even as Brunson got his points, the effect was to slow the Knicks offense. Which enabled the Bulls to hike up their lead to 20 points late in the second quarter and 16 at halftime. And thus this time be the team that was able to hold on and hold off because the other guys were in that deep deficit well.
It also helped that the Bulls started the game like a team coming off three days without a game against a team on the second of a back-to-back.
Which actually was what happened.
“I felt like we had a lot more pop today,” said Donovan. “I felt like the three days off really helped us.”
Dosunmu, especially, apparently auditioning to be shot out of a cannon (do they do that anymore?), attacking the smaller Brunson off the dribble to start the game and scoring easily. Dosunmu’s transition has been both literally on the 94 feet and perhaps more so between the ears. Once hesitant that led to his regression last season and the Bulls apparently prioritizing a guard in free agency, Dosunmu is looking like not only one of the league’s fastest players off the dribble but as much with the confidence of the engine that could. He doesn’t think he can; he now knows he can.
In many respects, his improvement is as impressive as that of White’s, a top candidate for the league’s most improved award, if not going back as far. Averaging 12 points for the season, Dosunmu is averaging more than 16 and 43% on threes the last 37 games back to early January. That’s double his scoring average from last season.
His 14 first-quarter points stunned the Knicks, and then it was Green with that running dunk off the wing (on a Dosunmu pass), 11 second-quarter points from Green for a 61-45 Bulls halftime lead.
The Knicks began to recover after halftime as the Bulls continued to err on threes, 7-of-23 for the game. And it didn’t help not having White in the second half. But the Bulls with Green were making up for it on the hustle board, offensive rebounds (19-9 edge) and movement with Green slicing up the Knicks with knife sharp cuts for scores.
“He just gets himself in there and makes plays at both ends of the floor whether it was steals or offensive rebounds or good cuts back door to give us extra points,” said Donovan about the 6-foot-5 Green, a Benny and the Elevators possibility without the trampoline. “I thought his energy was terrific; changed the game in a lot of ways for us. He’s really elite when shots go up at what angles to take to keep balls alive.”
Dennis Rodman, clone, anyone? Without the makeup.
“He’s very explosive and can get there quickly and get off the floor quickly,” said Donovan, always anxious to break it down. “He manufacturers a lot of points. When you can generate those easy baskets it helps. Cutting is really a high-level skill that’s really, really hard to teach. Because a lot of it is instinctive. A lot of it is seeing a gap. Sometimes you can just start running and cutting into people and killing spacing or killing a drive. He’s got a really good feel and awareness of when and where to go.”
Even Green wasn’t sure where, however, after the knee injury last season after becoming a Bulls favorite. No NBA team made him an offer last summer as he continued rehabilitation, and the Bulls went free agency for Torrey Craig. Golden State gave him a chance at their Santa Cruz G League spot, but not on a two-way contract. So by rule any NBA team could make him an offer. Finally the Bulls did. It’s difficult to believe after what we’ve seen in these few games what everyone else was doing.
And after knee surgery, of all things.
Players come back. Not so much do they go up in the air again like that.
“For a guy to have surgery and not be signed and someone said he had knee surgery or he was out of the league because of his knee, and you’d say, ‘I highly doubt that,’” said Donovan about seeing Green’s bounce. “No question it’s pretty amazing.”
It would have been a tough loss to digest after what Green brought. But after the Knicks got within 81-76 after three quarters, DeRozan recognized his time and opened the fourth quarter with consecutive scores as the Bulls recovered a double-digit lead, extended it to a dozen with eight minutes left.
And then had just enough wow left from Woo.
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