Ayo Dosunmu‘s career-high 34 points, alongside Nikola Vucevic ‘s double-double, propelled the Chicago Bulls to a commanding 127-98 win against the Washington Wizards during Saturday’s NBA action.
The duo’s standout performances ensured the Bulls maintained a significant lead throughout the game, highlighting their dominance against the NBA’s bottom-ranked team. Dosunmu, reflecting on his journey and improvement, shared insights into his personal growth strategy.
“I wrote down where I was at last year because I knew I wasn’t the player I wanted to be,” Dosunmu said. “I understood that in order to get better, it’s gonna take a lot of time and a lot of work. I pretty much (tried) to write it down just so at a time like now, I could look back a year and say ‘OK, this is where I was at.’”
Bulls coach Billy Donovan praised Dosunmu’s dedication to improvement, noting his offseason efforts and potential for further growth.
“I do think there’s even much more room for improvement for him,” Donovan said. “I think he had to solve some things for himself, just talking to him a little bit about the way he was being guarded. … It’s really hard to play to your strengths – which for him is out in transition in the open floor, attacking the paint – if you’re not a threat ever to shoot.”
The Bulls’ cohesive performance, with Alex Caruso and DeMar DeRozan also making significant contributions, demonstrated their offensive efficiency, shooting approximately 58% and outperforming the Wizards in the paint.
Meanwhile, Wizards interim coach Brian Keefe continued their struggling season, marking their third consecutive loss and 19th in their last 21 games.
“They were able to get the ball in the paint, score in the paint, offensive rebound in the paint,” Keefe said. “We didn’t probably do enough of resistance early in the game. But then as the game grew, our fight actually got better. So I was pleased with that.”
The Bulls’ early surge in the first half, led by Dosunmu and Vucevic, effectively sealed the game’s outcome, demonstrating their capability to capitalize on their strengths and maintain momentum.
As the Bulls look ahead to hosting the Portland Trail Blazers and the Wizards prepare for a matchup against the Boston Celtics, both teams aim to build on their current standings, with Chicago leveraging their recent victory to fuel their performance moving forward.
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