On Thursday afternoon, the Chicago Bulls took on the Cleveland Cavaliers in their third game of the summer league. While they attempted to mount a comeback late in the game, the Bulls lost 87-81.
It was Chicago’s worst shooting performance of the summer league by a wide margin. The Bulls shot 7-of-35 (20%) from behind the 3-point line. By dropping to 2-2, they are out of contention for the summer league playoff berths. But what were some of the top storylines from the game?
Let’s go over a few notes from the Bulls’ summer league loss to the Cavaliers.
Bulls Summer League Notebook: Javon Freeman-Liberty is human
After a string of dominant performances for Javon Freeman-Liberty, he finally came back down to earth. Well, kind of.
Freeman-Liberty still led the Bulls in scoring with 18 points, adding three rebounds, two assists and a block to his totals as well. However, he shot just 5-of-14 from the field and 2-of-5 from deep.
This wasn’t his best performance, but if this was a bad game for Freeman-Liberty, that’s a very good thing.
Bulls Summer League Notebook: Dalen Terry just can't figure out his offense
As was the case last game, Dalen Terry did a little bit of everything for the Bulls in their loss to the Cavaliers.
Everything except score efficiently.
Terry ended the contest with 12 points but shot just 4-of-13 from the field and 0-of-4 from distance. On the bright side, he had five rebounds, two assists, three steals, and one block.
But while all that is great, the Bulls need the youngster to start shooting better (or at least scoring at an efficient rate).
Bulls Summer League Notebook: Julian Phillips was effective
A look at the box score would leave most disappointed with Julian Phillips’ performance. He had 12 points but shot 4-of-10 from the field and 0-of-4 from deep.
But the rookie was playing with great energy against the Cavaliers. He had two rebounds, one steal, and one block against Cleveland, and his hustle should not go unnoticed.
Obviously, Chicago wants to see him shoot well, but his defensive potential and overall athleticism were on display in this one.