Story By: Erin Zollars
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Washington, D.C–
Just one game after John Wall went down with an ankle sprain, you wouldn’t have know anything had happened prior to the Bulls game tonight at Verizon Center as he dished out 20 assists helping his team to a 112-107 victory over the Dwyane Wade-less Bulls team.
Minus Wade, whose fractured elbow will keep him out for the rest of the regular season, the Bulls were down 19 points at halftime before getting as close as one.
“I hate this word ‘soft.’ I hate it, but that’s exactly what we were,” forward Jimmy Butler said of his team’s start. “They beat us to every 50-50 ball, worked our tail in transition, we turned the ball over. Those things that we’ve talked about all year long replayed in that first half.”
Chicago rallied and eventually had a chance to tie it, but a well-guarded Butler missed a 3-pointer from the wing with 3.9 seconds left.
“I’ll take that shot,” Butler said. “Maybe I should’ve sidestepped a little bit. You can say all this stuff now, but I had a great look at it.”
Butler finished with 28 points and Robin Lopez added a season-high 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Bulls, who began the night in 10th place in the Eastern Conference and have lost seven of eight.
The Wizards travel to Charlotte to face the Hornets on Saturday night. Expect Wall to play again in that game.
