Bulls big man Wendell Carter Jr. beat Collin Sexton in June and again Saturday

SHARE Bulls big man Wendell Carter Jr. beat Collin Sexton in June and again Saturday
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It literally was a war room for the Bulls on draft night back in June.

The Bulls had the seventh pick, and the selection didn’t come without some debate.

Duke big man Wendell Carter Jr. had turned a lot of heads within the organization, but there was also an argument being made for Collin Sexton and the intangibles he would add to the roster in toughening up the backcourt.

In the end, the Bulls picked Carter, and the Cavaliers followed by picking Sexton.

Carter came out on top again Saturday. Rather, his team did.

Sexton outscored Carter 20-15, but it was Carter and the Bulls who earned the 99-98 win. The Bulls improved to 4-9.

“Sexton, the thing that really impressed us first was how competitive he is,’’ Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. “It was really impressive to see him in that freshman season at Alabama, what he did and the pace that he plays with, the speed getting the ball up the floor.

“He’s got a toughness to him that I think everybody really admires and likes, and you can see him getting more comfortable every time he steps on the floor, playing over 40 minutes in his first start last game. Just a really tough, competitive kid.’’

But Sexton wasn’t the only point guard to earn that compliment from Hoiberg.

In preparing for the Cavs (1-11), Hoiberg opted to make some changes to his lineup.

With Kris Dunn (left knee) on the shelf for at least another month, the coach elected to start Ryan Arcidiacono in place of Cam Payne.

Arcidiacono responded with a career-high 15 points. Meanwhile, Payne was out of the rotation entirely as Hoiberg used Shaquille Harrison to run the point with the second-teamers.

“Archie is a guy that’s going to go out there and play with a toughness as well,’’ Hoiberg said. “He’s somebody we feel deserves this opportunity to go out there. He’s a guy who gets us extra possessions. He’s taken more charges already this year than I think anybody took for 82 games a year ago, so he gets you into things offensively. He knows when to get a guy a shot, get a guy a touch, and every night he’s going to go out there and guard.’’

Hoiberg said that Payne wasn’t pleased with the demotion, but he understood.

“Cam was good,’’ Hoiberg said. “He understands that he’s got to keep himself ready, keep working. I said this a lot about Cam, he is one of the hardest working players on this team. It’s just about keeping yourself ready, keeping yourself prepared, and producing when your name is called.’’

Always reliable Zach LaVine once again led the Bulls in scoring with 24 points, and added eight rebounds and five assists with just one turnover.

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But the play of the game shockingly was made by Jabari Parker, and it came on the defensive end of all places.

With Sexton driving for the potential game-winner, Parker contested Sexton for the miss and then swatted him when the rookie attempted the put-back.

“Great play,’’ LaVine said of Parker. “Jabari made two big effort plays. The contest and then the block, so it was a good win.’’

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