– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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WASHINGTON — It is not unfamiliar territory to see Chicago Bulls center Adama Sanogo dominate a game during this time of the year, though he had to show a lot of patience this time around to produce another April gem on the court.
The rookie center put up career highs of 22 points and 20 rebounds to lead the Bulls to a 129-127 victory over the Washington Wizards inside Capital One Arena on Friday night. Javonte Green had 24 points while Jevon Carter also produced a double-double, with 20 points and 12 rebounds, as the Bulls won back-to-back games for the first time since March 16 and 18.
Chicago is locked into the No. 9 seed and will play the Atlanta Hawks in the play-in tournament on Tuesday, allowing head coach Billy Donovan to sit a number of his regular starters like DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic and Alex Caruso. THrust into the spotlight were players like Sanogo, who is just a year removed from his Most Outstanding Player performance at the Final Four for the University of Connecticut during its championship run last year. Spending most of the season with the Windy City Bulls, Chicago’s G League affiliate, Sanogo played a season-high 35 minutes as he might have also been inspired by his alma mater’s run to a second consecutive championship earlier in the week to put on his best performance at the NBA level.
“It feels good, man. I’ve been waiting for this all year,” Sanogo said. “So to be able to come in and do it now, it feels great. … The thing about this, it’s like a dream come true for me.”
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Friday evening’s event, with all photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Timothy Rice. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 25 pictures in total.
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