The Chicago Bulls are off to a solid start this season, but Nikola Vu\u010devi\u0107 was not happy with the overall effort during Saturday’s 121-120 victory over the Washington Wizards.<\/p>\n
“For three quarters or whatever, we were very soft,” he said in a postgame interview while also expressing frustration with his teammates’ celebration. “We gave no resistance. We didn’t do anything that we talked about.”<\/p>\n
The big man continued in the locker room after the game and said, “We just didn’t play up to NBA standards” while revealing he addressed the team.<\/p>\n
“I don’t think we understand that it’s just not sustainable to play this way,” he said while also highlighting he was upset because the shortcomings were “things that we can really control.”<\/p>\n
Chicago’s defense was nowhere to be found in the early going as it gave up 41 points in the first quarter alone against a Wizards team that fell to 1-15 with the loss. To the Bulls’ credit, they scored 40 points in the first quarter to make sure they were well within striking distance even while playing such poor defense.<\/p>\n
Neither team reached the 30-point mark in any of the final three quarters, but Chicago still found itself behind by six points entering the fourth.<\/p>\n
Vu\u010devi\u0107 also hit two key three-pointers down the stretch as the home team battled back, the second of which gave the Bulls a five-point advantage. But Washington came back to take a one-point lead before Tre Jones hit what proved to be the game-winning free throws with 34 seconds remaining.<\/p>\n
Vu\u010devi\u0107 led the way with a double-double of 28 points and 12 rebounds, nine of which came on the offensive end. He also shot 12-of-20 from the field and 3-of-7 from deep.<\/p>\n