Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan has harsh message for team after 120-119 loss to Mavs

The Chicago Bulls appeared to still be hungover on Saturday night from their miraculous buzzer-beating win over the Los Angeles Lakers two nights earlier. The Bulls let down their guard against a shorthanded Dallas Mavericks team in a 120-119 loss in front of 21,045 fans at the United Center.

The Bulls entered their contest against the Mavs with a four-game winning streak. Chicago had earned that winning streak by playing aggressive and smart. On Saturday night, the Bulls struggled with defense and turnovers against Dallas, turning over the ball 19 times to the Mavs’ six turnovers.

The Chicago Bulls didn’t have that “pop”

Following the game, head coach Billy Donovan told reporters that he thought the turnovers hurt the Bulls’ chances of winning. He thought the team didn’t have the “pop” they showed in previous contests during the winning streak.

“I didn’t think we kind of had it tonight, to be quite honest, the pop that was there (before),” Donovan said via Cody Westerlund of 670 The Score. “I thought our guys were trying, but like to me, the carelessness with the turnovers, I thought that really impacted the game.

“I thought we got too deep into the lane. I thought we could’ve generated and manufactured better shots. I didn’t think it was a lack of effort there. It was just a game that was a struggle for us.”

Billy Donovan was worried before the game

Donovan hinted before the game that he was worried about the “pop” his young roster would have against the Mavs after defeating the Lakers in dramatic fashion on Thursday night.

“They’ve got to be able to handle the emotion,” Donovan said. “That’s another part, I think, of the growth that we’ve got to make as a team. Because if at some point you do want to get to the playoffs, sometimes those playoff games can be really, really emotional from one game to the next and you’ve got to be able to flush those games and be able to refocus and raise your energy level and not have it zapped.

“Sometimes you can have heartbreaking losses or really, really emotional wins. It’s about how you come back off of that. We need to put that behind us and be able to move forward.”

A harsh lesson indeed.

The Bulls weren’t able to put that win behind them, and it cost them a chance to improve their seeding for the Play-In Tournament. At 33-41, Chicago is tied for the No. 9 spot in the Eastern Conference with the Miami Heat.

The Bulls need to learn how to move on from the highs of winning a close game against a playoff-caliber team if they ever want to make a deep playoff run themselves.

If this roster isn’t capable of sustaining consistent successes against playoff-caliber teams, they’re wasting the fans’ time and the ownership’s money on more mediocre Play-In Tournament games.

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