Estonian Henri Drell made his long-awaited debut with the Chicago Bulls on Thursday, becoming the second Estonian to play in the NBA. Drell scored his first career points in the NBA as the Bulls lost 111-126 to the LA Clippers.
With two minutes and 52 seconds left in the game, Bulls head coach Billy Donovan decided to make some changes, including replacing Torrey Craig with Estonian Henri Drell.
It was a big moment for Drell, who thus far has bided his time and put up strong performances with Chicago’s G-League affiliate, the Windy City Bulls. Drell became only the second Estonian to play in the NBA, following in the footsteps of Martin Müürsepp, who appeared in ten games for the Miami Heat in ten games and made 73 appearances for the Dallas Mavericks between 1996 and 1998.
Drell started well, with an effective pass in front of the home crowd, before launching a three-point attempt from distance that didn’t bear fruit. On Chicago’s next attack, the Estonian made an assist, before finally scoring his first basket of his NBA career 45 seconds from time.
Henri Drell’s first career NBA points! pic.twitter.com/Q8q15ZhVJ6
– The Bulls Speak (@NBCSBulls) March 15, 2024
Playing at home, the Bulls fell behind the Clippers in the first quarter, with the visitors increasing their lead to 16 points midway through the second quarter. Chicago was able to cut the lead to nine points by halftime, but in the third quarter, Los Angeles took a 20-point lead. While the Bulls came back again bringing the game to eight points at one point, in the fourth the Clippers proved too strong.
The Bulls bench, led by Drell, finished the game strong, but it was not enough to prevent a comfortable victory for the Clippers at 126-111 (37-26, 27:27, 28-27, 34-31 ).
Henri Drell finished the game with two points, two assists and a rebound. The Bulls’ best player was Demar DeRozan, who finished with 21 points, five rebounds and four assists. Nikola Vucevic added 19 points and six rebounds, with four other Bulls players also reaching double figures in points.
For the Clippers, Paul George was in excellent form, missing only once from the field, and finishing the game with 28 points (two points 5/5, three points 6/7), seven assists and five rebounds. Kawhi Leonard contributed 26 more points and “Bones” Hyland had a double-double with 17 points and 11 assists.
The Bulls have won 32 games and lost 35 in the season so far and currently sit in ninth place in the Eastern Conference. As it stands, that would be enough to qualify for the postseason play-in tournament. Success there would give them a chance in the play-offs. However, there are still 15 games left in the regular season, with plenty to play for for the Bulls and Henri Drell.
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