Josh Giddey didn’t miss a beat in his return from injury and Chicago won its third-straight game in a hard-fought, road upset to get back to .500.
Coming off the bench in his first game back from an 11-match absence with a hamstring strain, Giddey lit up for 21 points — including 18 in the first half alone — in a tense 120-115 victory in Minnesota over the 27-18 Timberwolves.
The Aussie shot 7-of-13 from the field and 7-of-9 from the free throw line and added six rebounds, five assists and two steals in 26 minutes in Friday’s thrilling contest (all times AEDT).
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His first appearance since December 30, Giddey provided a boost to Chicago’s rebounding and injected greater ball movement and pace into offence as the Bulls improved to 22-22 after a rollercoaster season to date.
“I feel good, obviously it’s a little different coming off the bench on a minutes restriction. The medical team has done a great job getting me healthy,” Giddey said post-match.
“We didn’t rush the process, so I feel good and it’s good to get a good win on the road.
“It’s just basketball. Whether I’m off the bench and on a minutes restriction, whatever it is, it’s just hooping, at the end of the day.
“I feel good, I’m confident and feel healthy. It’s good to be back.”
The Bulls overcame a 14-point first-half deficit and withstood a 13-0 Wolves run in the fourth quarter as Chicago came up with some big plays in the clutch.
Coby White topscored for Chicago with 22 and led all five Bulls starters in double figures, while Julius Randle poured in a game-high 30 points for Minnesota.
Anthony Edwards shot an ineffective 9-of-25 from the field for his 20 points in a tough night for the Wolves superstar marred by foul trouble.
Chicago got back to .500 for the first time since December 27, with five wins from its last seven games ahead of a home clash with the East’s No. 2 seed Boston on Sunday.
It puts the Bulls three and a half games clear inside the Eastern Conference play-in and only two and a half games behind the Philadelphia 76ers in the No. 5 seed.
“I think we’re starting to put the pieces together,” Giddey added.
“It feels like the season has been up and down, but we’re healthy and finally kind of getting back whole.
“We’re starting to get some continuity within the group. We feel good and like where we’re at, obviously there’s a lot of stuff we have to get better at.
“Hovering around .500, we want to get above that little hump. But we’re in a good place, mentally and physically.”
Minnesota suffered its fourth-straight loss to slide into a West play-in spot after the Timberwolves had been in contention for one of the top seeds in the stacked conference just a week ago.
The Wolves shot out to an early 11-3 lead in just over two minutes of Friday’s contest, which was paced entirely by Randle (six points) and Edwards (five).
Giddey checked in at the 5:30 mark of the first quarter with the Bulls down 16-9 and wasted no time to have an impact.
He made his first bucket on a deep jumper off a post assist from Nikola Vucevic to cut the Bells deficit to 23-12 at the 3:55 mark.
The Aussie injected energy into the contest including a drive capping off a 12-0 Bulls run to make it just a two points Bulls deficit at 26-24 inside the last minute of the opening period.
Giddey added a pair of free throws to cap off an eight-point blitz in six minutes in the opening term, with Minnesota leading
32-26 at the first change.
“He just makes a difference in your line-up, as far as the way he pushes the ball, he’s constantly trying to get guys involved,” Chicago commentator Stacey King said of Giddey.
“If the opportunity presents itself, he’ll take it and get to the rim.”
Giddey in the second quarter picked up right where he left off.
In a highlight play early in the period that really announced he was back, the Aussie converted a tough and-one play through traffic that lifted the visitors.
“Boy, has he been missed … he looks good too, he looks like he has his legs underneath, the energy,” King added.
Later in the term, a Giddey runner capped off a 10-2 Bulls run and gave the visitors their first lead of the game at 58-57 with 40 seconds remaining in the half.
Chicago went up 61-60 at the main break, with Gidley’s finger prints all over a scintillating first half.
He had 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line to go with three rebounds in just 12 minutes.
“Tell you what, Josh Giddey looks really good,” King noted.
The Bulls went on a 9-0 during the third quarter to edge ahead 75-72 with 6:14 remaining.
The game turned into a real arm wrestle from there, with a Giddey fast break layup giving Chicago a 93-90 cushion at the final change.
The visitors started the fourth term strong as Jalen Smith’s three pushed Chicago’s lead out to a game-high seven points at 104-97 with just under nine minutes to play.
But Minnesota took over from there with a 13-0 run to take a 110-104 lead with five minutes left after the Bulls went cold with a four-minute scoring drought.
Chicago came back to life, however. The Bulls closed the game on 16-5 run led by Tre Jones, who made big plays on both ends of the floor, and White in a tense final few minutes.
Jones made a tough layup through traffic to give Chicago a 116-115 advantage with 31.1 seconds on the clock and Anthony Edwards missed two triples down the stretch to consolidate the win.
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