What we learned from the Chicago Bulls' remarkable comeback win over the Sacramento Kings

The Bulls keep on fighting this season.
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The Chicago Bulls authored another spectacular comeback victory on Monday, erasing a 22-point third-quarter deficit to come away with a 113-109 win over the Sacramento Kings. The win got the Bulls’ road trip against Western Conference opponents off to a good start but three more tough opponents remain.

Here are two takeaways from the scintillating win.

Is Coby White’s shooting slump over?

Coby White—the Bulls’ undisputed rising star—finished February on a low note. In his last four games of that month, he made only 26 percent of his field goal attempts, including a miserable 22 percent from long distance. However, he went 7-of-14 in the loss against Milwaukee last Friday and shot 14-of-19, including 4-of-5 from three-point country against the Kings.

He finished with a new career-high of 37 points, his first 30-point game since Valentine’s Day. White’s seventh 30-point performance this season also matched his total from his first four seasons.

Another rookie provides quality minutes

Last week, Onuralp Bitim answered the call in the Bulls’ improbable double-overtime win against the Cleveland Cavaliers. On Monday, it was Julian Phillips who stepped up and scored all six of his points in the fourth to help the Bulls swing the momentum to their side. 

With Chicago missing so many rotation players, Bulls coach Billy Donovan has been forced to rely on his young fellows, and Phillips showed he was ready for the challenge, playing 14 minutes.

“Julian (Phillips) came in, gave us some big minutes, had a big-time charge, got to the free-throw line after a big-time cut that got us a layup,” White said of his teammates' effort in the huge win.

Chicago Bulls rally from 22 points down to thwart the Sacramento Kings


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Stephen Beslic
STEPHEN BESLIC

Stephen Beslic is a writer on Sports Illustrated's FanNation Network. Stephen played basketball from the age of 10 and graduated from Faculty of Economic and Business in Zagreb, Croatia, majoring in Marketing.