Chicago Bulls at Brooklyn Nets Analysis: Playoffs can wait

Game 80 is in the books. The Chicago Bulls entered their Saturday afternoon matchup with the Brooklyn Nets with a chance to secure a playoff spot if they could get the win. Here’s how the action played out.

The Nets and Bulls kicked off the last Saturday of the regular season with some classic Fred Hoiberg magic – the 22nd different starting five of the year for Chicago. With Wade back in game shape, Hoiberg opted to insert him into the starting lineup. He was joined by the same group that Fred ran out for their last game.

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And the story early was simply fouls. The Bulls picked up a lot of them. In fact, Jerian Grant and Robin Lopez went to the bench before the game ever really got going. Jeremy Lin got to the line just 14 seconds into the game and it kept going. Chicago was in the penalty at the 7:46 mark of the first quarter. With Lopez and Grant out, it was an early appearance for both Michael Carter-Williams and Joffrey Lauvergne – not Cristiano Felicio, again. A little 8-0 run for Brooklyn got them out front 20-10 early. The Bulls were not just committing fouls, but they also committed turnovers. They were in the penalty and at one point committed four turnovers to zero for the Nets. A bad start all around.

Chicago committed eight fouls in the first, just two for Brooklyn. The good news was that the Bulls finished the first quarter with a shooting flurry. After starting the game 0-for-4 from 3-point range, they hit the next for attempts from beyond the arc, including a Jimmy Butler shot to end the quarter. After a terrible start, the Bulls used the deep shot to get back in this game, trailing 32-25 after the first.

The second quarter signaled a Felicio sighting, but most of the other things that happened were bad. The Nets pushed their lead back as high as 14 points, and the Bulls continued to chase the game. The Bulls used a mid-quarter 7-0 run to pull the game back within six points, but it was an ugly affair. Trevor Booker was taking a few Bankshot attempts from the right baseline, but they were nowhere near going in. Only Chicago could slow themselves down, Wade making a terrible cross-court pass under no pressure that was behind his teammate – bad turnover.

Spencer Dinwiddie was an underrated storyline, he was 2-for-3 with two assists in his first six minutes of action. The Bulls then went on a 12-0 run, pulling back within three points on a Butler 3-pointer. Then Brooklyn got five very quick points, pushing the lead back to eight on a Lin 3-pointer. Chicago hung around, but failed to completely catch up before halftime. They did stop the incessant fouling and were bailed out by some bad transition offense from the Nets. Butler led the Bulls with 13 points at halftime and RoLo put up eight points of his own despite playing just eight minutes due to his early foul trouble. The team shot 6-for-13 from 3 in the first half and Dwyane finished the half with four turnovers in his first game action in several weeks. It was 51-45 at the half, Brooklyn maintaining the lead.

Nikola Mirotic, the Man of March, started off the second half by getting on the scoreboard. He made the second of two free throws to get his first point of the game, shooting 0-for-5 from the field prior to that, including an airball, and missing his first free throw attempt. The Bulls looked much better as a team in the third quarter and after nearly 26 minutes of gameplay, Grant was the first Bull to get to three assists as the ball was not flowing on Saturday afternoon. Still, Wade started to settle in and Brooklyn struggled to start the second half, allowing Chicago to go on a 9-0 run, tying the game. Then it got a little fun, both teams trading 3-pointers. After some back-and-forth action, the Bulls got their first lead of the entire game at 64-62 with less than six minutes left in the third.

Chicago kept up their hot 3-point shooting, Butler starting 4-for-4 from deep and Jerian also starting out hot, going 3-for-3 before finally missing from deep. However, even with a miss, the Bulls extended their lead as they started pulling away in the third. The main ingredient was simply shooting the ball better and better with each passing quarter.

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Wade, who was supposed to play about 20 minutes in his first action after missing 11 games, knocked down two free throws midway through the fourth, already 21 minutes of action under his belt, and extended the Bulls lead to eight points, just under six minutes left in the game. It wasn’t much longer before Hoiberg pulled Wade, who exited with a line of 14 points, seven rebounds, two assists and a block with five turnovers in 22 total minutes.

The big story for most of this game was Butler playing amazing basketball. He was hitting most of his shots, still perfect from 3 late in the fourth, over 56 percent from the floor overall. Chicago hasn’t done much to capitalize on Butler’s super season, but he keeps carrying them toward the playoffs anyway.

After a rough start, Mirotic made an impact on the game at the right time. With little more than four minutes left and the Bulls leading by six, Mirotic blocked a Lin shot at the rim and then finished an and-one in transition on the other end, pushing the Chicago lead to nine.

And then the Nets went on a tear. It was a 10-0 run, in fact. And Brooklyn got the lead back, 98-97, 2:22 to play. The Bulls went from in control to borderline falling apart down the stretch. And then, Butler. Jimmy knocked down a jumper to take back the lead and then drew a shooting foul the next time down the floor to get Chicago back up by three points. Hoiberg also brought Wade back into this game, hoping that the veteran could work some magic to slow down the Dinwiddie-Caris LeVert combination from Brooklyn.

Of course, in a game this exciting – which is both great and sad – there were more twists and turns to finish it out. Dinwiddie got to the line for two free throws with 13.6 seconds left and hit them both, giving the Nets a two-point lead. Butler got the call, but missed from 3 for the first time all night and Chicago was forced to send Dinwiddie to the line. He knocked down both free throws and Jimmy hit a 3 as time expired.

It was an amazing performance from Butler, but the rest of the Bulls failed to bring it, particularly on defense and a playoff spot will have to wait for another day.

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