Bulls vs. Celtics 11/01/21

Three Thoughts From Today's Game

The Bulls looked like they were on their way to their ugliest loss of the season when a lineup comprised mainly of subs turned the game around, and then the starters finished off the out-of-sorts Celts.  It was an exciting and unexpected win with the way the Bulls stormed back from a 19-point deficit midway through the third quarter to win easily.  By game's end, Stacy King went into Bane voice to announce his desire to pinch Ayo’s baby-faced cheeks, if that tells you something about the vibes fans were feeling following the comeback.  But while it ended nicely for the Bulls, the fact is that it was a bad night for the majority of the game.  So to offer a little balance to the giddiness surrounding the 6-1 start, my three thoughts from tonight's game all have on thing in common:

1. Balance

The Bulls showed a tendency to over-pass in the first half, especially the first quarter.  Several guys repeatedly passed up looks to dribble in and kick to the next guy.  You like to see the unselfishness even if it is a little annoying when they end up at the end of the shot clock with a worse look than 6 others earlier in the possession.  But at other times, players hoisted up long-distance jumpers without any ball movement.  They are still searching for that balance between sharing and shooting, but I think it’s going to come with more experience (please no more injuries!).  Chicago was better in the second half, though the bench and Zach Lavine in attack mode were the main reasons why.

2. Balance

When we were all getting excited about the starting five over the summer after the Bulls’ big offseason moves, I didn’t realize how important the bench would be.  They are the Yin to the starter’s Yang.  While the starters excel more on the offensive end, the bench mob (2.0) changes the game on the defensive end.  And it starts with ENERGY.  Today, the Bulls lacked the effort and energy on the defensive end that they have been showcasing since the start of the season.  Even as they started out the game draining 6 of their first 7 threes, they couldn’t establish much of a lead because they were letting the Celtics get anything they wanted.  Boston shot exceptionally well from 3 throughout most of the game, but that’s also because they were getting wide-open shots.  They outhustled the Bulls to almost every loose ball and made them pay.  Caruso even came out flat.  But Ayo, Tony Bradley, and Derrick Jones Jr. altered the course of the game for a second straight time.  Ayo most of all.  In fact, the Bulls don’t win this game without him (We got a good one in the second round)!  But the point is, the complimentary pieces in this lineup are really truly complimentary.  The team has gelled really nicely really quickly, and while they still need to balance out some things on the offensive end, like I mentioned in point 1, they are winning games while they work toward their full potential.

3. Balance

The Bulls defensive intensity in the second half kept the Celtics off balance. For a while it looked like Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum were unstoppable.  Then, in the later stages of the second half, they all but disappeared.  The Celtics had no rhythm as the Bulls deployed enormous ball pressure led by the aforementioned Ayo, as well as Caruso, Ball and Jones, though everyone locked in as they fed off of the energy that those players established.  The Celtics looked like the Bulls did when they almost coughed up a game in the waning minutes.  But Boston showed why they are struggling to start the year -- their defense is often porous despite some good defenders, most notably Marcus Smart, and they were not able to impose their will against the Bulls’ swarming defense.  The Bulls are ascending and it looks like less of a fluke with each passing victory.  Meanwhile, Boston fans are booing as their team appears prematurely past their peak.