March 31, 2013
Detroit Pistons Status Check:
Record: 24-29
Division: 6-7
Conference: 20-24
Road Record: 9-26
Last 10 Games: 1-9
Streak: Lost 2
Last game: 99-82 loss to Toronto
PPG: 93.8 (25th)
Opponents PPG: 98.9 (17th)
Offensive Rating: 102.9 (23rd)
Defensive Rating: 108.4 (24th)
Pace: 90.6 (23rd)
Effective Field Goal Percentage: .482 (21st)
Turnover Percentage: .141 (24th)
Defensive Rebound Percentage: .728 (23rd)
Offensive Rebound Percentage: .281 (11th)
Free Throws Per Field Goal Attempt: .193 (23rd)
Opp. eFG%: .505 (19th)
Opp. TO%: .130 (25th)
Opp. FT/FGA: .205 (17th)
Leading scorer: Greg Monroe (15.7)
Stats from Basketball-Reference
Detroit Injury Report:
Will Bynum: questionable (sore hand)
Brandon Knight: doubtful (sprained ankle/broken nose)
Charlie Villanueva: questionable (illness)
Overview:
Up and down. Up and down. It’s the way Chicago’s season has gone. How did the Bulls follow up their thrilling win over the Miami Heat? By blowing a 12-point lead in the final four minutes of a game against Dallas.
The Bulls led 97-85 before they stopped playing offense with four minutes left. The Mavericks went on a 15-1 run while Chicago missed everything and Dirk Nowitzki came up huge.
The loss is a bad one, blowing a big lead in the final few minutes of the fourth quarter, but it isn’t horrible. The Mavericks are a good team, and they are one that is fighting for the eighth place spot in the Western Conference.
The good news for the Bulls is that they’ve won 17 straight games against the Pistons, with the last loss coming in 2008. Chicago may be looking for their 18th straight win over Detroit, but the two games this year have been close.
Chicago won by four on the road in early December, then followed it up with a three-point win at the United Center in January. The Bulls needed an enormous game from Joakim Noah to take get the win in Detroit. Jo tallied 30 points and 23 rebounds, both career highs, and something only three players had done in the past 25 seasons. The Bulls trailed by 17 points in the second quarter before coming back to take the game.
It was a similar story in Chicago. The Bulls were down 17 in this contest as well, before Nate Robinson led a fourth quarter comeback in which Chicago outscored Detroit 28-14. Robinson finished with 11 points and seven assists and Noah kept a loose ball alive to Marco Belinelli who hit the game-winning bucket.
On top of the close games this season, remember that the Bulls are still quite injured. Joakim Noah and Marco Belinelli are game-time decisions, while Derrick Rose and Rip Hamilton are out.
The injuries go hand-in-hand with big minutes for those players that are still healthy. There will be some tired bodies on the second night of this back-to-back. Jimmy Butler played 44 minutes, Luol Deng recorded 41 and Carlos Boozer played 37.
But the Bulls offense has been arguable its best all year. Chicago has averaged 101.0 points per game over their last three contests, 8.0 better than their season average. During that stretch, they’ve hit 43.5 percent of their three (30-69). In the month of March, Detroit is allowing 105.3 points per contest, while scoring just 89.1. Both of those are the worst totals of the year for the Pistons. Not surprisingly, they are 1-12 in March.
When Luol Deng nailed a three-pointer to give the Bulls a 97-85 lead with 4:07 left in the game, it honestly looked like the Bulls had this game pretty much wrapped up.
As it turns out, not so much.
Dallas closed out the game on a 15-1 run as Chicago’s offense — which had been pretty darn good all game long — went into a coma. Here’s a breakdown of what happened over those final minutes:
3:40: Nate Robinson turnover (bad pass)
3:15: Kirk Hinrich missed three-pointer
2:48: Luol Deng missed three-pointer
2:47: Offensive rebound by Jimmy Butler
2:28: Hinrich turnover (traveling)
1:51: Deng missed 18-footer
1:28: Butler missed layup
1:08: Deng missed layup
0:41: Robinson missed layup
0:41: Offensive rebound by Carlos Boozer
0:41: Foul drawn by Boozer
0:41: Boozer 1-for-2 from the free throw line
0:15: Vince Carter is forced to foul Butler
0:15: Butler 0-f0r-2 at the free throw line
0:01: Robinson missed three-pointer
Turnovers. Missed jumpers. Missed layups. Missed free throws.
In summary: everything that could have gone wrong…did go wrong.
And while the Bulls were struggling to find the rim, Dirk Nowitzki was giving them the superstar treatment.
After missing a three-pointer with exactly one minute remaining, Nowitzki drilled a corner three seven seconds later to draw the Mavs to within 97-95. It was a dagger. A tired-looking Luol Deng — he played 41 minutes — went around a screen instead of fighting through it. That was all the daylight Nowitzki needed. You can’t go around a screen on somebody like Dirk Nowtizki. I’m pretty sure Lu knows that. But fatigue can affect decision making. It sure seemed to in this case.
After Boozer missed one of his two foul shots, Nowitzki spun baseline and knocked down a 12-footer over Butler to move Dallas to within 98-97.
As noted above, Butler could have given the Bulls a two or three-point lead had he just knocked down one or both of his free throws. But he didn’t. Obviously, that had a major effect on how the Bulls defended the Maverick’s final offensive possession.
Dallas was rotating the ball and the Bulls were switching like crazy. Nowtizki — who was stationed outside the three-point line but to the left of center — found Carter at the top of the key. Robinson had to run all the way over from the left side of the court to try and contain Carter’s drive, only little Nate slipped and fell. Carter took a few clunky steps in the direction of the basket, which forced a mini-collapse by Deng. Carter made the right move, hitting a suddenly open Nowitzki, who naturally hit the three.
Said Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau: “We had a slip, and we were in a scramble. I thought there may have been a travel there, but that’s the way it goes.”
Now the Bulls were down two points with 2.9 seconds left. And we all know how that turned out.
Of course, had Butler hit both free throws, the Bulls could have simply defended the three at all costs. That would have been the only shot that could have beaten them…and this squad is pretty darn good at defending the three (currently fourth in opponents three-point percentage). Even if Butler had knocked down only one of his foul shots, the Bulls could have covered the long-range shooters, forced Dallas to hit a contested two, and the worst-case scenario would have been overtime.
But things didn’t work out that way. And Butler was crushed.
Said Butler: “I’m not going to say I was nervous, because I was really confident. I’m supposed to be a good free throw shooter, [but I] missed two. I don’t care what anybody says; that’s the reason we lost that game. I don’t care what my teammates say; I know better. If I would have made those two, we would have been up three, and then we just make them go to the basket. This one’s on me without a doubt, and that’s that.”
I feel for the kid. But you know, it’ll make him stronger. I bet next time he’s in this situation, he knocks ‘em down.
Still, this loss wasted a terrific offensive performance by a Bulls team that doesn’t have many of those. They finished with an Effective Field Goal Percentage of 55.0 and scored at a rate of 112.5 points per 100 possessions (per Basketball-Reference). Carlos Boozer (25 points, 11-for-16, 11 rebounds), Luol Deng (25 points, 10-for-17, 7 boards) and Nate Robinson (25 points, 7-for-7 on threes, 6 assists) were all on fire.
Unfortunately, Nowtizki (35 points, 14-for-17, 5-for-6 from downtown, 7 rebounds, 7 assists) was absolutely unstoppable.
Said Robinson: ”He was on fire. It was like a video game.”
There’s no time to rue the one that got away though. The Bulls face the Pistons tonight.
Extras:
Recap, Box Score, Advanced Box Score, Play-by-Play, Shot Chart.
March 30, 2013
There were so many compelling story lines in Chicago’s victory over the Heat the other night. There was Miami’s 27-game winning streak. Thrilling dunks on both sides. Amazing steals. Ferocious rebounds. Spectacular plays.
It was gripping basketball. About as gripping as it gets in the regular season.
But oddly enough, the lingering discussion regarding this game is all about LeBron James’ assertion that he was victimized by hard fouls.
Said LeBron: “Let me calculate my thoughts real fast before I say [what I want to say]. I believe and I know that a lot of my fouls are not basketball plays. First of all, Kirk Hinrich in the first quarter basically grabbed me with two hands and brought me to the ground. The last one, Taj Gibson was able to collar me around my shoulder and bring me to the ground. Those are not defensive … those are not basketball plays.
“It’s been happening all year, and I’ve been able to keep my cool and try to tell Spo, ‘Let’s not worry about it too much.’ But it is getting to me a little bit because every time I try to defend myself, I got to face the consequences of a flagrant for me or a technical foul, whatever the case may be. It’s tough. It’s tough. It’s very tough, and I’m not sitting here crying about anything because I play the game at a high level. I play with a lot of aggression, and I understand that some of the plays are on the borderline of a basketball play or not, but sometimes you just got to … I don’t know. It’s frustrating.”
Kirk Hinrich’s response to his so-called tackle on Lebron was brief and to the point: “I was just hanging on for dear life and didn’t want to give up the and-one.”
For his part, Taj Gibson was somewhat taken aback by LeBron’s comments: “I think he’s too good of a player to do that. You just play, two teams really going out there and play hard, going to the basket extremely hard and physical. I didn’t try to collar him. I just fouled him. It wasn’t intentionally.
“I just tried to make a play on the ball, but I fouled him. When he fell, it looked like I collared him. I was really trying to grab him, just not hold him up. Nobody was intentionally trying to hurt anybody out there. When he said those comments, I was really shocked. But it’s part of the game, I guess.
“Carlos [Boozer] was getting hit the same way all night. We have to guard them and do our jobs. Me and Kirk, what he said about us, it was crazy. Kirk wrapped him up, first off. He was trying to make a play on the ball. He wrapped him up to not try to hurt him intentionally, so he won’t get an easy layup. He’s a dominant player. You just try to slow him down. We’re not trying to intentionally hurt him.”
Things didn’t stop there. They kept going. And took a turn for the weird.
Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge made the following comments on WEEI Radio: “I think the referees got the calls right. I don’t think it was a hard foul. I think the one involving LeBron against Carlos Boozer [in which LeBron lowered his shoulder into the Bulls’ forward 10 seconds after Gibson’s foul), that was flagrant. I think the officials got it right. I think that it’s almost embarrassing that LeBron would complain about officiating.”
This elicited a rather profane reply from Miami Heat president Pat Riley: ”Danny Ainge needs to shut the f— up and manage his own team. He was the biggest whiner going when he was playing and I know that because I coached against him.”
Naturally, Ainge had a quick response to this: ”I stand by what I said. That’s all. I don’t care about Pat Riley. He can say whatever he wants. … Pat Riley’s right. I should manage my own team. I complained a lot to the officials. And I’m right, LeBron should be embarrassed about how he complains about the calls he gets.”
Talk about drama.
Meanwhile on TrueHoop, Henry Abbott published an article called Tackle Basketball for the win in which he wrote:
Before the game, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau predicted a “cage match.”
Physicality, in other words, would be Chicago’s solution to Miami’s big, strong and super-quick LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, who tend to make layup after layup. Good, solid defense doesn’t cut it against those two. The recipe? When they get a step on their defenders, when layups and dunks look likely … tackle them, hit them, bring them down out of the sky.
It started a few minutes into the game, when an eager Kirk Hinrich, despite having perfect defensive position, crashed into an open-court James rather than attempt to strip the ball, draw the charge or contest at the rim. Minutes later, Hinrich was directly in James’ path, in position to draw a charge or try to poke the ball away. His move? A bear hug that ended with his own head whacking the floor hard.
Moments later, James was zeroing in on a reverse layup or dunk, and the Bulls’ Taj Gibson — in no position to touch the ball — swung hard and connected with his hand directly to James’ head. Instead of dunking, James ended up on the floor, checking his teeth. And that was just the first quarter.
Why, again, is this fun to watch?
This post was followed by one about the origin of the “no layup” rule of the late 1980s and 1990s and how it is still allowed and rewarded in today’s game. After all, the Bulls used it to end Miami’s historic winning streak, didn’t they? Tackle basketball for the win, right?
I don’t know about all that.
For starters, I’m curious where all this outrage was when Dwayne Wade pulled Rajon Rondo to the ground and dislocated his elbow in the playoffs a couple years back. Or when he intentionally kicked Kevin Garnett during a layup attempt. Or when he broke Kobe Bryant’s nose at the All-Star Game. Or when he threw Rip Hamilton out of bounds. Or took another cheap shot at KG. Or tried to run through Paul Pierce. Or perpetrated a dangerous take down from behind on Maurice Evans during the playoffs. Or viciously and intentionally drilled Darren Collison from behind during another playoff game. Or kicked Ramon Sessions between the legs.
Why, again, is all that fun to watch?
But I digress. Let’s stick to this particular game.
According to Hoopdata, the Heat went 23-for-32 at the rim in their game against the Bulls. That’s a conversion rate of 71.9 percent.
So much for a no layup rule.
LeBron — whom we are being told was the hapless victim of something akin to Bill Laimbeer’s Combat Basketball — went 8-for-9 at the rim.
Dwayne Wade — who, according to Abbott’s post, “was sent sprawling to the floor spectacularly and regularly” by the Bulls — went 4-for-5 at the hoop.
Chris Bosh was 5-for-7 from point blank range.
For those of you who enjoy simple math, Miami’s big three were 17-for-21 on layups and dunks during a game in which they were apparently being tackled, hit and brought down out of the sky any time they attempted an attack on the basket.
Something doesn’t quite add up here.
If the Bulls were employing Tackle Basketball, how could Miami’s three primary offensive weapons end up with 17 conversions out of 21 attempts at the rim in a game with playoff-like intensity against one of the best defensive teams in the league? That makes the kind of sense that doesn’t.
Were there hard fouls?
No question about it. And the Bulls were penalized judiciously by the officiating crew. LeBron attempted a game-high 11 free throws. Wade came in second with seven foul shots. Bosh was tied with Jimmy Butler for third with five freebies.
What’s really strange about all this is that the most obviously intentional foul of the game — when LeBron rammed his shoulder into Boozer and then swung his elbow near Boozer’s face – did not even warrant a mention in any of the articles about the dangers of intentional fouls.
Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk provided some much needed perspective:
LeBron can be frustrated if he wants — the referees certainly let the game get more physical than most regular season games. And to my eye, if Gibson’s foul didn’t cross the line into flagrant neither did LeBron’s shoulder.
But he can’t have it both ways — he is often a “bully scorer” who simply overpowers opponents on his drives in the lane. LeBron can score a lot of ways but he isn’t afraid to use his physicality to his advantage. But that means he can’t then turn around and say “hey, they are being too physical with me.”
Compared to the 1980s this was not that physical, but the league has moved away from that model… at least until the playoffs start. Wednesday’s game in Chicago had the physicality of a playoff game, something LeBron should get used to.
LeBron initiated the contact with Hinrich, he tried to bully past him, Hinrich just wrapped him up. That was a basketball play to me. Gibson was on the bubble of flagrant, but LeBron lives in that zone.
Personally, I don’t believe there is a dangerous epidemic of intentional fouling going on in the NBA. Nor do I think the Bulls were channeling their inner Bill Laimbeer in that exciting win over the Heat. They committed a handful of hard fouls and were justly penalized for them. End of story. Anything else is just much ado about nothing.
March 28, 2013
Last night’s game had two possible outcomes for the Chicago Bulls: Either make history or become a footnote to it.
They made history.
Unless you just arrived on earth from another star system, you likely already know the Miami Heat entered this game having won 27 games in a row, which represents the second-longest winning streak in NBA history. Going in, some people felt that Miami’s streak was even more impressive and historically significant than the 33-game romp the Los Angeles Lakers went on during the 1971-72 season.
As Shannon Owens of the Orlando Sentinel put it: “Honestly, even if the Heat fail to break the Lakers’ record, this should still go down as the greater accomplishment. There is no comparison to the pressures today’s Heat team faces versus yesterday’s Lakers. ESPN and social media didn’t exist 41 years ago. And the quality of competition Miami is playing against is far superior.”
LeBron James himself said: “Back then, the leagues were separate. It wasn’t a full league at that time; the ABA and NBA leagues spread apart. So some of the greatest players weren’t even in the [NBA] at the time.”
I’m not so sure.
To me, this is a case of chronological snobbery, that wonderful little logical fallacy that something from an earlier time — be it thinking, art, science, or sport — is inherently inferior when compared to that of the present.
After all, while there are some factors (as noted above) that favor Miami’s 27-game streak, there are also a few that tilt in the favor of L.A.’s 33-gamer. For instance, the Heat live in an era of private jets, massage therapists and various other creature comforts that NBA players in the 1970s probably never even dreamed of. The 1971-72 Lakers had to take commercial flights, endure layovers and wash their own uniforms. Seriously.
And if you think today’s NBA schedule is unkind, talk to anybody who played back then. In those days, playing three nights in a row was accepted and standard practice. In fact, the 1971-72 Lakers played four sets of back-to-back-to-back games during their 33-game winning streak.
Then there’s the simple fact that Lakers great Elgin Baylor retired before L.A.’s winning streak began. Meanwhile, Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain were both still very good but also past their respective primes (Wilt retired in 1973 and the Logo called it quits in 1974). By contrast, the Heat have the world’s best player in his prime and at the absolute top of his game…not to mention two other top 10 players in their primes.
Finally, as ESPN’s Rick Reilly put it: “If the competition is so superior now, as James says it is, how come two of the three greatest streaks in league history have come in the past six years? Why are four of the top seven from 2000 and later?”
The reality is, there’s no need to demean what that Lakers team accomplished in order to promote what the Heat have been doing. Their streak is truly amazing on its own merits, regardless of comparative rankings.
During their 27-game run, the Heat beat good teams (Clippers, Grizzlies, Hawks, Knicks Pacers, Rockets, Thunder), bad teams (Bobcats, Cavaliers, Kings, Magic, Pistons, Raptors, Timberwolves) and everybody in between. They blew teams out. They came back from huge deficits. They won 13 consecutive road games.
They didn’t lose. They just didn’t lose. For 27 games. Amazing.
Chicago’s season hasn’t been quite so sublime. It’s been plagued by injury, inconsistency and the mystery of when (or whether) Derrick Rose will ever come back from injury. There were rumors he would make his comeback against the Heat last night. Anyone who’s been following the Rose saga knew better. Rose and the Bulls are being as cautious with this situation as humanly possible. There was absolutely no way Derrick was going to make his long-awaited return in this meat grinder.
And man oh man this was a physical game.
During one first quarter drive to the hoop, James collided with Kirk Hinrich, who wrapped up LeBron’s arms to prevent the possibility of an “And-1″ opportunity and both players ended up on the hardwood. During the fourth quarter, LeBron was again fouled hard by Taj Gibson. Initially, the officials ruled it a Flagrant 1, but they downgraded it to a normal foul after a video review. Shortly thereafter, a frustrated James rammed into Carlos Boozer and whistled an elbow past Boozer’s face. It was a play that, had it been anybody other than LeBron James, likely would have earned an ejection. Instead, the refs called a Flagrant 1.
That’s the kind of game it was. Which had LeBron feeling a little indignant afterwards.
Said James: “Let me calculate my thoughts real fast before I say [what I want to say]. I believe and I know that a lot of my fouls are not basketball plays. First of all, Kirk Hinrich in the first quarter basically grabbed me with two hands and brought me to the ground. The last one, Taj Gibson was able to collar me around my shoulder and bring me to the ground. Those are not defensive … those are not basketball plays.
“It’s been happening all year, and I’ve been able to keep my cool and try to tell Spo, ‘Let’s not worry about it too much.’ But it is getting to me a little bit because every time I try to defend myself, I got to face the consequences of a flagrant for me or a technical foul, whatever the case may be. It’s tough. It’s tough. It’s very tough, and I’m not sitting here crying about anything because I play the game at a high level. I play with a lot of aggression, and I understand that some of the plays are on the borderline of a basketball play or not, but sometimes you just got to … I don’t know. It’s frustrating.”
I’m not sure I get the whole “every time I try to defend myself, I got to face the consequences of a flagrant for me” stuff. Swinging an elbow at Boozer, who was standing still and setting a pick, isn’t a case of LeBron defending himself. But whatever. Tempers flare. It happens.
Added Dwyane Wade: “I’m surprised he ain’t done it before. A big guy like that, you don’t really want to see him really start trying to inflict pain on other people. He plays the game the right way. It’s unfortunate. It’s tough but that’s why he is who he is. You have to deal with it. Tonight, he decided to get back a little bit. I didn’t think it was that bad.”
It’s not terribly surprising Wade didn’t think LeBron’s flagrant was that bad, given his own history of breaking noses, kicking opposing players between the legs, pulling people down, outright tackling guys and even throwing them (or their shoes) out of bounds.
Do superstars get hit? Yes. Do they hit back? Clearly.
David Stern has cleaned up the NBA quite a lot — just ask anybody who played in the late 80s and 90s — but basketball is still a contact sport.
The Bulls know this as well as anybody, which is why their locker room is like a M.A.S.H. ward.
Rose still has not returned after having his left knee surgically repaired. Chicago’s All-Star center, Joakim Noah, missed the game with plantar fasciitis. And the Bulls were missing both their starting and backup shooting guards, Rip Hamilton and Marco Belinelli.
Going in, the mere notion of this squad derailing the Miami freight train seemed ludicrous.
But it happened. How you ask?
ESPN Stats and Information provided the following three statistical reasons:
1. The Bulls allowed the Heat to get inside the paint but didn’t allow the Heat’s shooters to make easy baskets. The Heat went 10-of-39 outside the paint (25.6 percent), their second-worst such shooting rate of the season (they were 6-for-35, 17 percent against the Lakers on January 17).
The Bulls had similar success against the Heat earlier in the season. On Jan. 4, the Heat converted on 77.3 percent of field goals inside the paint but struggled on shots outside, hitting only 30 percent.
In the Heat’s victory over the Bulls, the Heat had a more balanced scoring attack, shooting 59 percent inside the paint and 44 percent outside it.
2. The Heat dominated the fourth quarter during their 27-game win streak, outscoring opponents by a combined 152 points and shooting 44 percent on 3-pointers.
In the loss to the Bulls, they shot 1-for-8 on 3-point attempts and were outrebounded by 12.
3. Despite scoring 32 points Wednesday against the Bulls, LeBron James was held to three assists, tied for his third fewest this season. James drove to the basket 12 times in half-court sets, but created only one field goal attempt (and no baskets) for a teammate off those drives.
Those are all legit reasons. But there were more.
For instance, there was how Luol Deng (28 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals) nearly played LeBron (32 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 assists) to a standstill.
There was Boozer matching Chris Bosh with 21 points and outrebounding him by an astounding 17-4. (This game may serve as something of a message to those who feel Boozer shrinks against the Heat or is a lesser player than Bosh.)
There was an inspired performance by Jimmy Butler (17 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and a spectacular one-handed alley-oop dunk over Chris Bosh).
There was little Nate Robinson for 14 points on 10 shots in 22 minutes…and nearly outscoring Miami’s reserves (17 points on 7-for-19 shooting) all by his lonesome.
And finally there was Kirk Hinrich. His stat line (7 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds) may look somewhat meager, but he made countless big plays, the biggest of which came with 2:41 left. The Bulls were clinging to a 91-85 lead when they forced James into a difficult step-back three-point attempt that was well off the mark. Bosh rebounded the ball, but Hinrich stripped him, took the ball the other way and eventually fed Gibson for an uncontested 16-footer that pushed Chicago’s lead to 9.
That wasn’t the only clutch play that helped the Bulls pull this one out.
With Chicago trying desperately to hold off Miami’s final attempt to rally, Robinson jacked up a three with 59 seconds left. Nate missed, but Boozer somehow fought his way to the offensive rebound and put it in the hoop to give the Bulls a 96-89 lead. Six seconds later, Deng stole the ball from LeBron. Then, after the Bulls had run the shot clock almost down to zero, Robinson swooped in for a driving layup to put the Bulls up 98-89 with 30 seconds left.
The Heat made a few exciting plays to make the final score a bit closer, but that was pretty much the ball game.
It wasn’t a pretty game, and it was far from perfect, as the Bulls gave up 24 points off 20 turnovers and got outscored 54-40 in the paint. But they did the dirty work, winning the rebounding battle 43-31 and doubling Miami’s Offensive Rebounding Percentage (32.4% to 16.2%).
And while James, Bosh and Wade (18 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals) all had strong games, the Bulls managed to keep Miami’s role players in check. To wit: The “other guys” managed a total of only 26 points on 11-for-30 shooting.
And — my God! — were those the offensively challenged Chicago Bulls scoring at a rate of 108.1 points per 100 possessions (per Basketball-Reference)? Who knew?
But, as much as anything else, the Bulls showed their mental toughness and willingness to fight and scrap.
Especially Hinrich.
Said Gibson: ”Kirk is one of the toughest guys I know. He has so much swag every day in practice. He’s a real vet. He doesn’t shy away from anything. He’s always in the middle, especially against big men. He switches out on centers. He doesn’t really care. He’s one of those dog kind of players.”
That’s Hinrich’s way. And, really, the Bulls’ way. It has been under Tom Thibodeau anyway.
It’s amazing how fast things can change in the NBA. Yesterday, the Heat were pursuing the longest winning streak in North American professional sports history, and now that chance has passed. Maybe forever. And a few games ago, the Bulls were in the midst of their worst extended slump in years. Now they’ve won three games in a row and sit only 2.5 games behind the Brooklyn Nets for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
Now there are 12 games left. Let’s see how the Bulls finish things off.
Extras:
Recap, Box Score, Advanced Box Score, Play-by-Play, Shot Chart.
March 27, 2013
Miami Heat Status Check:
Record: 56-14
Division: 12-1
Conference: 33-9
Road Record: 24-11
Last 10 Games: 10-0
Streak: Won 27
Last game: 108-94 win over Orlando
PPG: 103.5 (5th)
Opponents PPG: 95.5 (7th)
Offensive Rating: 112.7 (1st)
Defensive Rating: 104.0 (9th)
Pace: 90.8 (22nd)
Effective Field Goal Percentage: .549 (1st)
Turnover Percentage: .133 (8th)
Defensive Rebound Percentage: .728 (21st)
Offensive Rebound Percentage: .223 (26th)
Free Throws Per Field Goal Attempt: .226 (5th)
Opp. eFG%: .487 (9th)
Opp. TO%: .148 (3rd)
Opp. FT/FGA: .204 (16th)
Leading scorer: LeBron James (26.7)
Stats from Basketball-Reference
Miami Injury Report:
Dwyane Wade: questionable (sore knee)
Overview:
Less than a year ago it was conceivable that the Bulls could beat the Heat in a playoff series. Chicago was the top seed in the Eastern Conference, despite a bunch of injured guys, with Miami in second. I wouldn’t have put money on the Bulls taking down Miami in a seven game battle, but I would have bet anything that it would be competitive and that Chicago would push the Heat to the brink.
Now, less than 12 months later, things have changed. Derrick Rose is still out, the Bulls have an almost entirely new bench and the Heat are playing out of their minds. Right now, the gap between the two teams is wider than LeBron’s headband.
Miami comes in on an absurd 27-game winning streak, the second longest in NBA history and six games away from tying the Lakers’ all-time mark of 33. The Bulls are on a two-game winning streak—just the second times they’ve won back-to-back games since the beginning of February.
While Miami’s superstar is playing at an all-time high and cruising to what should be another MVP, the Bulls are still awaiting the return of theirs.
All of this sounds like doom and gloom, but it may actually work out well for the Bulls. Miami has a tendency to come out of the gates slow. They’ve trailed four of their last last five opponents by double-digits and were tied with Orlando late in the third quarter.
The Bulls are a better team than any of those, and although they’ve blown leads of their own this season, if they can get on top of Miami their defense could carry them to a streak-ending victory.
All these things that are working against the Bulls—no Rose, the injuries—may end up working for them. This is Chicago’s championship. They always get up to play the Heat, whether it’s the regular season or playoffs. This hasn’t been “just another game” since Miami signed James, Wade and Bosh, even if the Bulls say it is. A game of this magnitude means more, and rightfully so.
But this meaning is more one-sided than it has ever been. When Rose was healthy, the Bulls were a threat to Miami. That meant the Heat wanted to crush the Bulls the same way the Bulls wanted to crush the Heat. That doesn’t seem to be the case now. Sans Rose, Chicago is just another stepping stone on the way to a spot in the Finals for Miami.
“We know that Chicago is going to be a tough game for us, and playing in that building,” LeBron James said. “We want to come out with our game plan … and give ourselves a chance to win.” Well the Bulls are just 19-16 in the United Center, and when the two teams met there in February, Chicago managed to score just 67 in a 19-point loss.
The Bulls shot 37.3 percent in that contest, compared to 50.7 for the Heat. Noah nearly had a triple-double, posting eleven points, eight rebounds and eight assists. But with the poor shooting and Chicago’s 27 turnovers, it wasn’t really close. That was Miami’s ninth straight win, which seems like forever ago.
The underdogs did get the better of the Heat when they met in Miami though, where the Bulls dominated the glass. Chicago grabbed 19 offensive rebounds to the Heat’s four and won the overall rebounding battle 48-28. Miami shot slightly better and had fewer turnovers, but that rebounding margin put the Bulls over the top, helping Chicago grab a 20-7 advantage in second chance points. An effort like that on the boards is how they are going to win this game. They scored just eleven second chance points when the two teams met in the United Center.
Chicago has enough trouble scoring, when going up against a good defense like Miami, the Bulls will need all the second chance points they can get.
The Bulls have against the Heat won without Rose before, this year and last year. But playing without Marco Belinelli (abdomen) and Noah (foot) would be an enormous hill to climb. With that said, John Lucas III scored 24 points in a game against Miami last season, leading the Bulls to a victory. So no matter what goes down tonight, crazier things have happened.
March 25, 2013
There haven’t been many feel-good moments lately for the Bulls or their fans.
With the way the team has been playing lately, it’s hard to remember (and even a little difficult to believe) that the Bulls finished the month of January with a 28-17 record and a top-four seed in the Eastern Conference.
Then came a dismal February during which they went 5-8. They were bullied by the Pacers (111-101), Nuggets (128-96), Spurs (103-89), Heat (86-67) and Thunder (102-72). They even lost at home to the Cleveland Cavaliers…who were without Kyrie Irving.
Until this weekend, March hadn’t been much kinder to the Bulls. A promising home win over the Nets (96-85) was followed by a disappointing road loss to the Pacers (97-92). Marco Belinelli’s three helped pull out an 89-88 home win over the Jazz, but Chicago followed that up by getting overpowered by the Lakers (90-81) and absolutely slaughtered by the Kings (121-79). The Bulls saved a little face with a road win over the Warriors (113-95) before coming home for that demoralizing overtime loss to the Nuggets (119-118) and the depressing defeat by the Trail Blazers (99-89).
When I found out Joakim Noah (plantar faciitis) was going to miss Chicago’s home game against the Pacers on Saturday night, I was expecting the worse.
Then the Bulls surprised me. They made Indy’s offense look bad (38 percent shooting and an Offensive Rating of 98.4), won the rebounding battle (46-43 with a 26% to 21% edge in Offensive Rebounding Percentage), and pulled out the kind of gut-check game this squad had become known for during the last two and a half seasons.
Although Luol Deng (20 points, 7-for-14, 7 rebounds) and Carlos Boozer (18 points, 8-for-15, 10 rebounds) had big games, the Player of the Game may have been Daequan Cook, who came off the bench and contributed 9 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal in 17 minutes off the bench. Cook knocked down shots from 20, 22 and 23 feet, and I’ve got to tell you, it was downright strange to see a Bulls player hitting outside shots. It just hasn’t been happening much lately. Unfortunately — and this is just the way Chicago’s season has been going — Cook got injured while diving out of bounds to save a loose ball and had to be helped off the court.
Fortunately, the Bulls managed to hold on without him. If only just barely.
Said Taj Gibson: ”It took heart. Guys were doing what they do best. Guys were putting forth effort on defense, we were getting stops, we got a lot of big minutes out of Daequan [Cook] and Nazr Mohammed. Guys just filling the role. Nobody complained. We just kept running the right plays. Guys were just playing basketball, but we kept running the right plays with the right people, at the right time, and it worked.”
Added Bulls coach-slash-whip-cracker Tom Thibodeau: ”This is the way we have to play. We have to do it collectively. A lot of guys stepped up. I thought Luol was terrific, he set the tone. Carlos [Boozer] got going and then got in foul trouble. He played tough. Nazr Mohammed gave us a lift. Taj played great. We needed everybody.”
Having Gibson and Kirk Hinrich back for a few games definitely helped. Although losing Noah and still missing Derrick Rose and Rip Hamilton still hurt.
The next night’s odds seemed rather grim too. Hamilton, Noah and Rose remained MIA, and then Marco Belinelli was scratched due to an abdominal strain (his status is, not surprisingly, day to day). The Timberwolves (22-44) aren’t exactly scaring anybody, but they had a day of rest, the game was in Minnesota, and the Bulls were playing the second night of back-to-backs after a brutal fight against a bitter division rival. The Bulls were so light on depth I half-wondered if they shouldn’t sign Brian Urlacher to a 10-day contract…considering he’s not doing much these days.
Believe it or not, the T-Wolves aren’t a terrible defensive team, ranking 14th in the league while giving up 102.9 points per 100 possessions (for the sake of comparison, Chicago ranks sixth and gives up 99.7 points per 100 possessions). Meanwhile, the Bulls pretty much stink on offense, ranking 24th by scoring 100.0 points per 100 possessions…even worse than teams like Detroit, Cleveland and New Orleans.
Given the lack of warm bodies and presumably tired state of being, I didn’t see an offensive explosion coming, but that’s what happened. By Bulls standards anyway. According to Basketball-Reference, Chicago scored at a rate of 115.9 points per 100 possessions. Nate Robinson (22 points, 9-for-16, 10 assists), Jimmy Butler (20 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals), Carlos Boozer (19 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists) and Taj Gibson (12 points, 5-for-7, 11 rebounds) all had strong offensive games. That combined with a dominant rebounding effort — the Bulls had a 52-32 edge on the glass and a walloping 43% to 15.8% edge in Offensive Rebounding Percentage — was too much for Minny.
And suddenly the Bulls had their first winning weekend since December. And it was only the second time they’ve managed to string two wins together since the end of January.
So, for one wonderful throwback weekend at least, Thibodeau’s “we’ve got more than enough to win” refrain rang true.
Said Butler: ”I feel like if you hear the same things every day you start to buy into it. Thibs is constantly telling us that we have enough to win on any given night so I feel like as long as we go out and we play hard and guard and play for one another we can win with however many men we’re down with.”
Added Robinson: ”We all made it to the NBA for a reason. We’re all professionals so one guy goes down another guy steps up and be ready to play.”
It’s a popular idea around these parts and for most of Thibodeau’s tenure, it’s worked. After all, there have been scads of injury problems in each of his three seasons. Lately, things hadn’t been working. They did this past weekend.
Will it continue?
Chicago’s next game is against the seemingly unstoppable Miami Heat, who at the time of this writing are clobbering the Magic. Then it’s off to Dallas, back home for Detroit, then back on the road for games in Washington and Brooklyn. There are some winnable games there…but the Bulls have lost their fair share of winnable games this season.
But I’d rather see this particular glass as half full. After a rather ugly slump, the Bulls are playing like the Bulls we’ve come to know and love the past few seasons. Here’s hoping a nice little roll is coming.
March 24, 2013
Minnesota Timberwolves Status Check:
Record: 24-43
Division: 3-10
Conference: 14-29
Home Record: 16-16
Last 10 Games: 4-6
Streak: Won 1
Last game: 117-86 win over Phoenix
PPG: 94.8 (20th)
Opponents PPG: 97.7 (15th)
Offensive Rating: 102.1 (25th)
Defensive Rating: 105.3 (13th)
Pace: 92.5 (11th)
Effective Field Goal Percentage: .467 (28th)
Turnover Percentage: .140 (18th)
Defensive Rebound Percentage: .738 (15th)
Offensive Rebound Percentage: .284 (10th)
Free Throws Per Field Goal Attempt: .226 (5th)
Opp. eFG%: .507 (22nd)
Opp. TO%: .147 (5th)
Opp. FT/FGA: .188 (6th)
Leading scorer: Nikola Pekovic (15.6)
Stats from Basketball-Reference
Minnesota Injury Report:
Malcolm Lee: out (knee/hip surgery)
Kevin Love: out (hand/finger surgery)
Brandon Roy: out (knee)
Overview:
The short-handed Bulls pulled off an improbable win over Indiana Saturday night, moving into sole possession of sixth place in the Eastern Conference and avoiding a sweep at the hands of their Central Division rivals.
The Bulls were without Derrick Rose and Rip Hamilton, as usual, but were also down Joakim Noah because of his plantar fasciitis. That would have been enough of a hill to climb, but Chicago would lose Nate Robinson after he was ejected and Daequan Cook, who was injured late in the fourth quarter. Robinson was ejected for a flagrant foul on Lance Stephenson with less than 30 seconds left in the third.
Cook being injured normally wouldn’t hurt the Bulls chances of winning, but he had a solid game, posting nine points, five rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes of action.
Nate was having a pretty good game as well, as he too finished with nine points to go with five assists and five turnovers.
And even though the Bulls were supremely understaffed by the end of the night, Luol Deng logged the most minutes with 36. That’s back-to-back games that I have praised Tom Thibodeau for his minute allocation. Something is very wrong. One of us must be sick. Or maybe, just maybe, Thibs is starting to ease off the gas and rest some guys down the stretch so that they are fresher in the playoffs. That’s probably not it. He must be sick.
The Timberwolves are coming off their biggest road win since 2004, a 31-point thrashing of the Suns. Andrei Kirilenko led the way with 20 points, Dante Cunningham dropped 18 off the bench and Minnesota shot 53.2 percent from the field.
If there is one team that can match the Bulls in the injury department, it’s probably Minnesota. Kevin Love is out, as is Brandon Roy. And during the season they’ve had just about everybody on the injury report at some point. They even had a point guard recovering from a torn ACL, but theirs came back.
They are also close to the Bulls when it comes to three point inefficiency. Minnesota is dead last in the league in three point shooting percentage, hitting at a rate of 29.2. The Bulls are fourth worst, shooting 33.8 from deep. The Bulls are also fourth best though, when it comes to defending the three, allowing opponents to connect on 33.9 percent of treys. The Timberwolves are 18th in the NBA defending the three (36.0 percent).
This stat was important in the first game between the teams, a seven point win for the Bulls. Chicago hit six of their 13 three point attempts (46.2 percent), led by Rip (2-3) and Marco Belinelli (3-5). The Wolves struggled from deep though, finishing 3-13 from deep, or 23.1 percent. Kirilenko and Alexey Shved both went 0-3.
Noah is expected to be out again because of his plantar fasciitis, and Kirk Hinrich may miss the game as well after bruising his thigh against Indiana. How will the Bulls be able to make up for Kirk’s missing stats? He went 1-5 from the field for two points against Indiana, while coughing it up three times and dishing five assists. Without those two starters, the Bulls will try to win back-to-back games for the second times since the beginning of February.
Chicago has dropped five of their last six on the road, but have beaten Minnesota six straight times.
March 23, 2013
Indiana Pacers Status Check:
Record: 43-26
Division: 12-2
Conference: 29-15
Road Record: 15-18
Last 10 Games: 6-4
Streak: Won 3
Last game: 102-78 win over Milwaukee
PPG: 94.4 (21st)
Opponents PPG: 89.8 (2nd)
Offensive Rating: 103.9 (20th)
Defensive Rating: 98.8 (1st)
Pace: 90.0 (26th)
Effective Field Goal Percentage: .477 (23rd)
Turnover Percentage: .142 (25th)
Defensive Rebound Percentage: .749 (3rd)
Offensive Rebound Percentage: .303 (4th)
Free Throws Per Field Goal Attempt: .211 (11th)
Opp. eFG%: .448 (1st)
Opp. TO%: .129 (25th)
Opp. FT/FGA: .198 (9th)
Leading scorer: Paul George (17.6)
Stats from Basketball-Reference
Indiana Injury Report:
Danny Granger: missed Friday’s game (sore knee)
David West: missed Friday’s game (sprained lower back)
Overview:
The rollercoaster that is the 2012-2013 Chicago Bulls season took another dip on Thursday night when the Bulls slept through the second quarter and lost by double digits to the Trail Blazers. It’s the point on the ride when you feel like you’re going to throw up, but then remember you threw up on that last dip (the loss to Charlotte, probably). Chicago has a tougher opponent tonight in Indiana, the second place team in the East. They do luck out a little bit though, as the Pacers will be playing on the second night of a back-to-back.
The Bulls will try to avoid a sweep from their division rivals at home tonight, having dropped the first three games in the series by four, ten and five points.
Who knows which Chicago Bulls will show up tonight, which is really what the game boils down to. Will it be the team that got blown out by the Kings and zombie-walked throught Thursday’s second quarter? Or will it be the squad that dominated Golden State and stuck right with Denver?
To say most of the Bulls were awful against the Blazers would be an understatement. It would have been better if many of them hadn’t been on the court. Kirk Hinrich, in his long awaited return from a somewhat phantom injury, scored two points on 1-7 shooting to go with two turnovers and three assists. Production from your starting point guard!
But it didn’t end there. Nate Robinson finished 4-12 from the field, but at least he had nine assists. Production from your back-up point guard! Luol Deng couldn’t find the hole, going 2-7. Same with Marco Belinelli, who shot 3-10.
Joakim Noah (7-10), Carlos Boozer (8-18), Taj Gibson (7-14) and Jimmy Butler (4-7) played well. But it wasn’t close to enough to overcome that awful guard play.
It was an ugly game, but Tom Thibodeau did something crazy…he played Noah and Deng less than 30 minutes each. Lu played 26 minutes, while Joakim logged 27. I don’t know why Thibs chose this game to rest his guys, considering it wasn’t a back-to-back scenario, and the Bulls actually had a solid amount of rest on each side of the contest. Whatever his reason, I’m not complaining, because I’ve been all over Thibs for his minute allocation this season.
Rest is never a bad thing really in my opinion, and both guys will probably log huge minutes in each game of this upcoming back-to-back.
The Bulls have been getting beaten on the glass so far this season against the Pacers, bringing down just 38.3 boards per game against Indiana, compared to 43.2 rebounds per contest on the season. Noah did miss one game against the Pacers, in which the Bulls 47-35.
The other reason the Bulls are 0-3 against Indiana is foul shots. Chicago has shot 20.0 free throws per game against Indy, a little under their average of 21.3. The Pacers, on the other hand, have shot nearly 31.3 free throws in the three contests against Chicago, almost ten more than their season average (22.7). In games that have been decided by ten or fewer points, those extra foul shots can be the difference between a win and a loss.
The problem for the Bulls, is that they don’t have anyone to really drive and make contact. Boozer fades as far away from contact as possible, and everyone else struggles to create their own shot. Jimmy Butler seems like the only guy on the team that isn’t afraid to drive and take some contact.
The Bulls will luck out as David West is expected to miss the game. West scored 31 points and 29 points in the last two match-ups, after finishing with just ten in the first contest.
Tyler Hansbrough, filling in for West, scored 22 points (8-14) and brought down 12 boards against the Bucks as the Pacers cruised to victory. Paul George scored 20 points, Roy Hibbert posted eleven points, eight rebounds and seven blocks, while the Bucks made just 31 of their 101 field goals (30.7 percent). Milwaukee brought down 22 offensive rebounds, but just could not get the ball to fall.
Indiana is third in the league in defensive rebounding percentage (.749) and will focus on controlling the defensive glass for tonight’s game.
Indiana is 11-6 when playing on no rest, good for second best win percentage in the league trailing only Miami (12-1).
March 22, 2013
During Chicago’s ongoing post-All-Star break slump, I’ve repeatedly asserted that what this team needs most are more warm bodies. I figured the Bulls would return to their usual hard-nosed and competitive selves as soon as one or two players returned from injury.
Apparently, I misjudged the situation.
Kirk Hinrich and Taj Gibson were back. The Bulls were playing in the friendly confines of the United Center against a Portland team that began the night only 9-25 on the road. Between the iffy competition and the emotional lift of having actual depth, I really believed the Bulls could come out with one of their strongest efforts of the season.
Again, I misjudged the situation.
The team’s usual offensive woes were in full effect. Normally when a team scores 22 fast break points and 54 points in the paint, you would assume things went well, but they did not. The Bulls had to score 36 points on 15-for-23 shooting in the fourth quarter just to make the final numbers look not-completely-horrible. And that happened only because the Trail Blazers pulled back on the throttle. A so-so first quarter (21 points on 10-for-24 shooting) was followed by a miserable second (16 points on 7-for-17 shooting) and an embarrassing third (16 points on 7-for-25 shooting).
The Bulls look so bad on offense it’s often painful to watch. They did a decent job of getting to the rim, where they were 24-for-32 (according to Hoopdata). But from everywhere else? Ugh, ugh, and ugh again. Here’s the breakdown: 1-for-6 from 3-9 feet, 4-for-10 from 10-15 feet, 6-for-26 from 16-23 feet and 4-for-14 from three-point range.
This team cannot shoot jump shots. They just can’t. And other teams know this.
Meanwhile, the Blazers were shooting hot from the outside. They attempted only 12 shots at the rim and went 3-for-10 from 3-9 feet, but they were 14-for-30 from 16-23 feet and 10-for-21 from three-point range. And these numbers include their relaxed fourth quarter, during which they shot 7-for-21 and 1-for-5 on threes.
But by the fourth quarter, the game was essentially decided.
In case you’re wondering, the Blazers aren’t normally a strong three-point shooting team. They currently rank 22nd at 35.3 percent. But they were 9-for-16 through the first three quarters.
So yes, Portland was shooting hotter than usual, but it’s worth noting that the defense has something to say about how well an opposing offense shoots.
Said Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau: ”We have to be up on them more than we were. You give them space, they are going to score. We need to play better.”
Added Gibson: ”Our defense was terrible,” Gibson said. “We couldn’t stop them. They were hot. The ball pressure wasn’t good enough. They were knocking down jump shots from every single part of the court.”
The obvious question: What’s wrong with the Bulls?
Replied Joakim Noah: “I don’t know.”
Carlos Boozer had a little more to say: ”Every game is a grind right now. We’re so short-handed. Every game is a grind-out game. It felt great to have Taj back out there, Kirk back out there, and we’ll see if we can get some more guys back, but every game is a grind for us right now.”
For what it’s worth, here’s my take. The team itself — especially without Derrick Rose — is flawed. The Bulls don’t have enough high-percentage outside shooters to make opponents pay for sagging into the paint and double-teaming. They don’t have enough athletes or team speed to be a truly good transition team. They don’t have a superstar at the moment. Add in all the injuries, the long minutes (especially for Noah and Luol Deng), the emotional drama of Derrick Rose’s comeback, and the constant whip-cracking of a coach who will not (or cannot) accept less than 100 percent every night…
…and you have a team that seems a little out of it.
The Bulls are still trying. They’re working hard. Nobody has quit. Not even remotely. But — and I know I say this a lot — basketball is a game of split seconds. When a team is emotionally and physically fatigued, as the Bulls clearly are, they lose those split seconds. This effects every area of the game. Like maybe a player makes the right pass, but it may be a split second late or a few inches off. Maybe a defender rotates correctly, but just a split second too late to get in a shooter’s face. Things like that.
And don’t forget: This is a team that has been driving hard for the past three seasons, basically ever since Thibodeau picked up his Bulls-themed clipboard and whistle. And their have been significant injury problems during all three of those years. So three seasons of going all out every night, injuries, lots of PT for the main guys, the loss of Rose, the uncertainty of when Rose will be back, on and on.
Players are frustrated. They’re doing what they’re supposed to do, they’re playing hard, but nothing is working. Shots aren’t falling. Opponents are lighting them up.
Even more frustrating — for the Bulls and their fans — these problems may not be fixable this season. Even if and when Rose returns.
It’s a rough time in Bulls land. And nobody knows when things are going to get better.
Extras:
Recap, Box Score, Advanced Box Score, Play-by-Play, Shot Chart.
March 20, 2013
Portland Trail Blazers Status Check:
Record: 31-36
Division: 6-5
Conference: 18-22
Road Record: 9-25
Last 10 Games: 5-5
Streak: Lost 2
Last game: 102-95 loss to Milwaukee
PPG: 98.3 (13th)
Opponents PPG: 99.7 (19th)
Offensive Rating: 106.6 (10th)
Defensive Rating: 108.2 (24th)
Pace: 91.2 (19th)
Effective Field Goal Percentage: .499 (12th)
Turnover Percentage: .139 (14th)
Defensive Rebound Percentage: .733 (19th)
Offensive Rebound Percentage: .264 (17th)
Free Throws Per Field Goal Attempt: .199 (20th)
Opp. eFG%: .506 (21st)
Opp. TO%: .126 (27th)
Opp. FT/FGA: .188 (5th)
Leading scorer: LaMarcus Aldridge (21.1)
Stats from Basketball-Reference
Portland Injury Report:
Victory Claver: out (sprained ankle)
Sasha Pavlovic: out (bruised quadriceps)
Elliot Williams: out (Achilles surgery)
Overview:
Even with a controversial loss against Denver in overtime on Monday, the Bulls have to be happy with the way they’ve responded from an embarrassing and horrible loss at Sacramento.
Chicago lost 119-118 to the Nuggets, but their offense—mostly Nate Robinson—played extremely well, finishing with a 115.5 offensive rating while recording a 53.1 effective field goal percentage. Before that home loss to Denver, the Bulls handled the Warriors in an 18-point victory. The last time the Bulls scored 100 points in back-to-back games was in January, in which they scored 107 and 100 in overtime victories. The last time the Bulls pulled off the feat in regulation games (the Denver game went into overtime, but Chicago scored more than 100 in regulation)? Well you’d have to go back to December, when they followed up a 100-89 win over Boston with a 110-106 victory at the Knicks.
Perhaps it was that blowout loss in Sacramento that kicked the Bulls into gear. Tom Thibodeau and the team seemed upset afterwards, so it’s fair to assume that the loss has put some extra energy in their step. It’s unclear how long the Bulls can run on that anger and embarrassment. Luckily, they have the events at the end of the Denver game to be fueled by now.
“We felt like we got it stolen from us,” Carlos Boozer said following the game. It’s easy to talk about a single missed call because of the time it took place in a game, but there wasn’t just a single missed call in that game. There were calls that went the Bulls way, that perhaps gave them two points or even more, earlier in the contest. So complaining about one call and boiling the loss down to it is a weak excuse. The refs made an incorrect call, by not reviewing Kosta Koufos’ put-back, then learned from that mistake and reviewed Joakim Noah’s. It’s unfortunate that it happened that way, but it’s also wrong to blame the refs for a loss. If Noah would have run Andre Iguodala off of the three point line on the possession before, then the Bulls wouldn’t have been in the situation to need a quick bucket.
No matter how you see it, the Bulls strung together two good games, something they hadn’t done in a while before that.
Nate Robinson scored 20 points against the Warriors and exploded for 34, including 6-8 from deep, against the Nuggets. This was the only time all season that Nate scored more than 20 points in back-to-back contests. He also was the only bright spot against the Kings (other than the final buzzer), going 7-9 from the field for 19 points. Nate is shooting 59.1 percent over his last three games, breaking out of a funk that stretched into early February. He’s going to have his hands full on the defensive end tonight, trying to slow down Rookie of the Year contender Damian Lillard.
It’s amazing what a team can do with a point guard that can score. Just imagine if they had a former MVP to play point…but I won’t get into that (although his return does seem like it’s going to come this season).
Luol Deng, who was slumping in his own right, scored 23 and 21 points over the last two contests. Shockingly an efficient offense keeps you in more games than an inefficient one.
Add in the possibility of Taj Gibson returning, and the Bulls’ prospects are looking so much better than they did just a few days ago. Gibson is expected to play, while Kirk Hinrich will be a game-time decision. But I have gotten to the point with Kirk that I always just assume he will get injured again before the game.
After two straight games against playoff teams, including one against the second hottest team in the NBA, Chicago faces the Trail Blazers, who are on the outside looking in. Portland is three games back of the eighth place Lakers in the Western Conference and has dropped two straight contests.
The Blazers are also a dismal 9-25 on the road this year, giving them a worse road record than New Orleans and an identical one to the Cavaliers. That’s not company you really want.
Their road struggles were on display in Tuesday’s loss at Milwaukee. Despite shooting 50 percent (13-26) from deep, Portland lost, partly because they turned it over 17 times. The Trail Blazers scored a season-low eight points in the second quarter, while allowing 31 in the frame. They mounted a second half comeback, but fell short. LaMarcus Aldridge posted 21 points and 15 boards, and Wesley Matthews tallied 28 points to lead Portland.
According to Stats LLC, the Blazers have hit 49 of 100 from three point range over their last four road games. The Bulls have allowed the fewest three pointers in the league, and the third worst opponent three-point percentage (33.6).