Chicago Bulls vs. Brooklyn Nets: Game Reaction and Analysis

The Chicago Bulls took their unbeaten 2-0 mark to the Barclays Center on Halloween night to take on the Brooklyn Nets and came out on top for the fourth straight time in Brooklyn.

Next: Bulls soar up power rankings at CBS Sports after big first week

After two games (two wins) that left the Chicago Bulls unbeaten at 2-0 with the top offensive rating in the NBA, they traveled to Brooklyn to face the Nets on Halloween night.

Wait, what?

The Bulls entered Monday night with the best offensive rating in basketball? Believe it or not, yeah, they most certainly did.

It showed early and often for the Bulls, as they jumped out of the gate quickly with 38 first-quarter points and didn’t look back.

Here’s a quarter-by-quarter look of tonight’s action, including some thoughts on the Bulls overall on Monday.

First quarter

The only thing the Nets won in the first quarter was Brook Lopez winning the tip from his brother, Robin.

Other than that? It was all Bulls.

The Bulls started 7-of-10 shooting from the field and jumped out to an 18-9 lead. The catalyst of that huge start was Jimmy Butler. The former Most Improved Player award winner made his first five shot attempts, including slamming home a beautiful transition chance for the Bulls early on from a Dwyane Wade lob.

Butler scored 13 points and grabbed three rebounds to lead the frantic pace for the Bulls from the tip, and the Bulls lead 38-20 (!) after the opening frame.

Second quarter

The Bulls did exactly what they had to do in the second quarter. When you jump out to an 18-point lead in the opening quarter, the next job is to push the lead out, and that’s exactly what they did.

At one point, the Bulls led by 25 points and scored 60+ points in their second straight first half for the first time since 2012.

A couple notes from the second quarter:

• Isaiah Canaan stepped in for the injured Michael Carter-Williams (more on him in a second) and in eight minutes, Canaan made all four of his field goal attempts, including a trio of triples to give him 13 points off the bench. His third 3 gave the Bulls their biggest lead of the night at 61-36 with 2:54 left in the half.
• Michael Carter-Williams (left knee) was ruled out by the Bulls PR staff after taking a nasty fall on a Nets possession in the second frame.
  • You can see the tumble in the video below:

Despite losing MCW to an ugly-looking fall, the Bulls won the quarter, 27-24, drained eight of their 14 3-pointers and took a 21-point lead into the break.

Third quarter

The quarter got off to a … not ideal start.

Both teams turned the ball over and over, and it made you wonder whether or not a running clock would be the best option for this game.

Despite the cozy lead, the Bulls starters played the first chunk of the third quarter and got out to a 16-11 start.

One thing of note in the quarter: Taj Gibson picked up his second double-double of the season in the fourth game of the year.

Why is that relevant? Here’s Bulls stat guru Jeff Mangurten with why:

The Bulls won the third quarter as well, 28-22. Taj Gibson finished his night scoring 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting, grabbed 11 rebounds, and had a plus-minus of +24 (tied for the best on the team with Jimmy Butler.

Fourth quarter

Doug McDermott missed a dunk. That’s all that pretty much happened.

Oh, and Dwyane Wade was hurting people’s feelings.

(Denzel Valentine saw some minutes, too.)

The Bulls finished off a rather easy night at the office with points in the final quarter and cruised to their third straight victory, 118-88.

In terms of wins, it won’t rank that high at the end of the year because the Nets aren’t very good, but the Bulls are now 3-0 for the first time since the 1996-97 season.

They won 69 games that season (nice).

They also won the NBA title, the franchise’s fifth championship in seven years.

I’m not just saying. I’m just saying.