Julian Phillips lives up to his words with bounce-back game vs. the Sacramento Kings in the Summer League

The rookie had an impressive game against the Kings.

After an underwhelming debut in the NBA Summer League, where he struggled to find his shot and finished with just two points, four rebounds, and a block, the Chicago Bulls’ draft pick Julian Phillips responded with an improved performance in the next game against the Sacramento Kings. He finished with 16 points, four rebounds, and three blocks while making 6-of-8 from the field, highlighted by a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc.

Got the start

Phillips got the start against the Kings in place of Justin Lewis, who suffered an ankle injury last time out. The Tennessee product responded by making an immediate impact on the floor, whether it was crashing the boards, running in transition, or hitting from the outside—which turned a lot of heads.

Phillips shot just 23 percent from beyond the arc in his lone college season, but his stroke on Tuesday was flawless. He knocked down a couple of wing triples and another from the corner to give the Bulls a spark.

Got a long way to go

Bulls vice president Arturas Karnisovas got a glimpse of Phillips’ play and liked what he saw. He also commented that the youngster will get stronger in time and make adjustments to the physicality of the NBA game.

“He’s going to get stronger,” Karnisovas said. “You can see the physicality is obviously new for him. But he has to impact the game with his motor. We saw him get an offensive rebound, a putback. That’s how he’s going to impact the game.”