Daily Bulls

Marko Simonovic finished his incredible performance of 27 points and 13 rebounds with a game-winning free throw to get the Bulls their first win of the 2022 Summer League against the Dallas Mavericks. After Simonovic got hot early, going 3-3, he struggled with shooting 2-9 for the rest of the first half. He went 5-7 from the field in the second half and OT.

First-round pick (2022), Dalen Terry finished with 9 points, six assists, and five rebounds. For half of the game, Terry played like a point guard, but he was clearly better off the ball on offense. Two-Way contract player Justin Lewis had 8 points and five rebounds. Malcolm Hill had 18 points and six rebounds. Off the bench, Javon Freeman-Liberty had 11 points, shooting 5-9.

For Dallas, Jaden Hardy and A.J. Lawson each had 28 points. No one else from the Mavericks couldn’t score in the double-digits. Hardy and Lawson were the most significant factors in Dallas getting a 16-point lead during the second half. But they couldn’t finish the deal in the fourth quarter and OT.

Game of Runs

To start the game, Chicago went on a 10-4 run within the first five and half minutes of the first quarter. Simonovic and Lewis scored all 10 points. Dallas slowly returned in the game and got their first lead with a Justin Gorham layup, 24-23, early in the second quarter. The Mavericks proceeded to go on a 23-10 run to take strong game command at halftime, 47-33.

Chicago came out of halftime with a fight mentally and got another run of 12-3 to cut the Mavericks’ lead to 5, 50-45. A Javon Freeman-Liberty two-pointer gave the Bulls their first lead late in the third quarter since early in the second quarter. Dallas kept a double-digit lead until halfway through the fourth quarter. The Bulls stormed back with a 19-9 run. Simonovic and Hill scored 17 points out of those 19 points. That includes a Simonovic dunk with 21 seconds left in the game. Next possession, Hardy missed a possible game-winning shot.

In OT, A.J. Lawson made a three to get a 97-94 lead with 49 seconds. But Chicago fought back with free throws by Hills and Simonovic. Lawson tied the game at 99-99 with a driving dunk with 14 seconds left in OT. Carlik Jones missed a possible Bulls game-winner, but Simonovic got fouled and made a game-winning free throw with 0 seconds left in the game.

Final Thoughts

A win is a win

When you thought Chicago would get blown out, they proved you wrong. The Bulls survived and will now hope to become 2-0 on Sunday. Marko Simonovic deserves some minutes off the bench next season for the Bulls. The problem is that Chicago has too many centers with Vucevic, Drummond, and Bradley. Dalen Terry didn’t fill up the stat sheet, but he is not a finished product just yet. Terry will look to improve his ball-handling, even though he won’t play the point guard position next season in Chicago.

Mavericks have to close out this game

At the end of the day, it’s the Summer League. But you must finish games if you want any chance of making it to the pro level. Dallas had double-digit leads in the last three quarters. They were active and physical as a team but fell apart late in the game. The good news is that their second-round pick, Jaden Hardy played well with 28 points. Now they will look to get revenge on Monday against the Jazz.

Up Next

Chicago will face the New York Knicks on Sunday, 4:00 PM CT

Dallas will try to bounce back against the Utah Jazz on Monday, 9:00 PM CT

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