The Game as a Microcosm
The Bulls have had a reputation over the last few years of beating good teams, then losing to bad teams not long after.
Against the Timberwolves, they managed to live up to that rep within a single game. The Bulls were both an offensive powerhouse and unable to stop a team with the worst record in the NBA. In Chris Herring’s story on the Bulls for FiveThirtyEight, he points out that the Bulls have nine instances in the last five seasons of beating an opponent with a .600 winning percentage or higher, then losing to a team with a .400 percentage or lower. No other team in the league has accomplished that feat more.
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It’s not easy to come up with why the Bulls have such a consistent problem with playing consistently.
Part of it certainly has to do with injuries, but injuries affect many teams in the league. The Bulls aren’t unique in that.
Part of it has to do with players’ individual consistency, and Nikola Mirotic has a strong case for most inconsistent player in the NBA over the last two years.
Part of it has to do with the Bulls’ mysterious tendency to show up a bit more for nationally televised games. They’ve won 16 straight TNT Thursday games at home if that means anything to you (it shouldn’t).
Whatever the causes, Bulls fans shouldn’t get their hopes up that this reputation will die out anytime soon, and maybe that’s not the worst thing in the world. After all, half of this problem involves watching the Bulls take down some really good teams. That has to count for something.