3 takeaways from Chicago Bulls' road loss against the Washington Wizards

Despite being down 17, the Bulls nearly pulled off a second-half comeback in Washington

© Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Following a win over the Miami Heat in Wednesday's season opener, the Chicago Bulls suffered their first loss, falling to the Washington Wizards 102-100. Here are three main takeaways from yesterday's game.

This team has character

After leading by 6 at the half, Kyle Kuzma's back-to-back threes extended the Wizards' lead to 15 to start the 3rd -- Deni Avdija's two-way play helped Washington go on a run during the stretch. And yet, it took Bradley Beal's right-handed floater with 7.4 seconds remaining for the Wizards to secure a win in the home opener at Capital One Arena.

“The thing that was disappointing coming out of the half was we gave up those two 3s, and one of the things that we had talked about is that we've got to contest,” head coach Billy Donovan said.

DeMar DeRozan nearly won it for the Bulls, but his 3-point attempt at the buzzer rimmed out. The All-Star forward was the one who orchestrated the team's comeback attempt -- in the final two minutes, he scored 6 points, including a slam dunk with 30 seconds to play that tied the game at 100. 

DeRozan followed up his historic season debut with 32 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. He also re-imposed himself as the go-to guy down the stretch for a Chicago team that showed a lot of character by nearly completing a big second-half comeback on the road.

Defensive inconsistencies

Although the Bulls only allowed Washington to score 6 points toward the end of the 3rd quarter, the defensive inconsistencies throughout the entire game ended up costing them a win. 

Apart from the aforementioned stretch to begin the second half, the Bulls also allowed Washington to score 15 points on 6-for-7 from the field in the first 4 minutes of the game. 

The Wizards finished the contest shooting 51.2% and were able to get the shots they wanted down the stretch. The Bulls shot 41.8% as a team and converted 27 of their 33 free throw attempts -- Nikola Vucevic set a new career high by going 12-for-12 from the charity stripe.

However, defense was an issue that the Bulls head coach hopes will be resolved once the team's best perimeter defender Lonzo Ball is back from injury.

LaVine is needed

DeRozan and Vucevic combined for 56 points -- the big man put up 24 points and 8 rebounds on 5-for-14 from the floor. However, the lack of bench contribution -- the second unit scored 27 points after they had 37 against the Heat -- cost the Bulls.

Fortunately for Chicago, head coach Billy Donovan said Zach LaVine is expected to make his season debut against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday. 

Adding another elite scorer will help the Bulls diversify their offense. It will also improve the second unit, adding Alex Caruso who was a starter at the shooting guard position in place of their injured All-Star.