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Billy Donovan keeps head high amid Bulls' painful meltdown to blow away lead vs Suns
The Chicago Bulls were on the verge of beginning their three-game road trip on a winning note until they crumbled at the worst possible moment.
Trampling the Phoenix Suns by as much as 23 points and being up 79-56 with eight minutes to go in the third frame, the Bulls allowed the home team to flip the script and start a rally to claw a comeback victory.
Phoenix's dramatic efforts to win it was capped off by Kevin Durant, who drained an icy, double-clutch jumper with 1.1 seconds left to push his team in front, 115-113.
A frustrating ending
The Bulls were left clueless and wondering what suddenly unfolded as they saw their massive lead disappear and game get out of their hands.
As it is, head coach Billy Donovan admitted his disappointment on what his team displayed down the line in what could be a sweet victory already against the Western Conference powerhouse.
“There's been some games this year — quite honestly — that we've lost that we have no right to be upset about,” Donovan said. “This is a game that you can be upset because you poured your heart and soul into it and came up short.”
Move forward, not backward
In the end, Donovan is keeping his head high for the Bulls as he maintained that optimism to push through their road trip and continue their season.
They saw their six players notch double-digit markers led by Coby White's sparkling 26 markers. They also moved the ball well with 25 collective assists and dominated the boards with 47 total rebounds.
“You came up short and there's nothing for them to hang their heads about. I'm not trying to, like I said, make it about a moral victory but there's a lot of good things we did completely in the game that we can hopefully build upon.”
