Chicago Bulls at Detroit Pistons: Instant analysis of second straight loss

Here’s a breakdown of what happened on Monday night when the Chicago Bulls took on the Detroit Pistons in the first of two straight road games for the Bulls.

For the final time in the long and illustrious history of the rivalry, the Chicago Bulls faced the Detroit Pistons inside The Palace at Auburn Hills on Monday night for their third of four meetings this season.

The Bulls came in off a pretty poor second-half performance this past Saturday night at home against the Los Angeles Clippers, scoring just 30 points in the final two frames after scoring 32 in the second quarter alone.

Did the Bulls get back to their post-break winning ways and maintain an advantage over their Central Division rivals in the Eastern Conference playoff race, or did their long-time foes to the northeast creep closer to the No. 7 seed?

Let’s take a look at a quarter-by-quarter analysis breakdown of what happened on Monday night in Detroit.

First quarter

If you were expecting a fun, efficient start to the game like the one between the Bulls and Clippers on Saturday night, you didn’t get that.

At least not right away.

The teams combined to shoot 5-for-18 from the field in the first 3:30 of the contest, but the Bulls maintained an early 9-4 advantage after a couple Bobby Portis free throws. That advantage would grow to 13-4 rather quickly, thanks to an aggressive Jimmy Butler and the completion of an 11-0 run from the Bulls after the early 4-2 timeout from Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy.

Detroit countered with five quick points, trimming the lead to 13-9 and forcing a timeout from Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg. (At this point, the teams combined to shoot 8-for-26 with 5:39 left in the opening quarter.)

Following the timeout, the Bulls jumped right back on the gas with an 8-2 run to push the lead out to 21-11 with 2:58 left in the frame. (12 of the first 21 points for the Bulls came inside the painted area.)

After one quarter, the Bulls led the Pistons, 26-14

Second quarter

This is how the Bulls started the second quarter:

The results weren’t as bad as you’d expect. The unit was a -1 (8-7) inside of the first four minutes of the second frame, which featured an aggressive Nikola Mirotic and a big Michael Carter-Williams block as a transition trailer on Reggie Jackson.

Mirotic also displayed some good vision on an assist to a cutting Cristiano Felicio for a slam.

An issue for the Bulls that made itself known as the Pistons tried to creep closer in the contest was Aron Baynes’ 5-for-5 start for 10 points to go along with five rebounds. He sparked the Pistons trimming the lead down to 38-32 with 5:26 left before halftime.

Detroit continued to chip away in the final minutes of the first half, but the Bulls wouldn’t let them get any closer than six points for almost the final 5:26, scoring 17 of their 29 points in that time span. The Pistons got a putback from Jon Leuer to trim Detroit’s halftime deficit to just four.

Jimmy Butler finished the first half with a game-high 15 points, four rebounds and a pair of assists, while Bobby Portis and Robin Lopez paced the Bulls’ front court with 16 combined points and eight rebounds.

The Bulls had the halftime lead, but giving up 37 points in the second quarter alone was not a good way to go into the break (and that’s with the Pistons shooting 2-of-11 from 3-point range in the half).

Bulls led at halftime, 55-51

Third quarter

If you thought a 37-point quarter from the Pistons was bad for the Bulls in the second frame, it took less than two and a half minutes for the Pistons to not only tie the game, but to take the lead on a 10-4 run right out of the gate.

Thankfully for the Bulls, Jimmy Butler was much more engaged on Monday and it was on display throughout the entire night.

Butler sparked the Bulls out of their early rut in the third quarter to a 65-61 advantage to force a Detroit timeout with 7:43 left in the quarter. The tip-in gave Butler 17 points and five rebounds on just eight shot attempts (which is more shots than he took against the Clippers on Saturday night).

The Pistons made another push to tie the game at 71 in the final minutes of the third, but Cameron Payne drilled not one, but two 3-pointers, and one of the newer Bulls were able to get the Bulls a bit of a cushion and the lead back late in the frame. Payne’s third and fourth 3-point makes of the night gave the Bulls a 77-73 lead with about two minutes to go in the quarter.

Despite Payne’s hot shooting from beyond the arc, the Bulls still got outscored for the second straight quarter, 28-24, and needed to shake the trend to win the game in the fourth and final period.

After three, the Bulls and Pistons were tied at 79

Fourth quarter

The Pistons got the early advantage in the quarter with a 8-3 start to take a 87-82 lead with 7:46 left in the game. Aron Baynes threw down a wicked one-handed flush off a pretty pick-and-roll set to get the crowd and the Pistons bench going a bit.

Reggie Jackson forced a timeout from Fred Hoiberg with a bucket to give Detroit a seven-point lead with 6:40 left at 89-82. (Yes, the Bulls only have three points with almost half of the fourth quarter over and done with, which is … not good.)

Things continued to get worse for the Bulls, as the Pistons pushed the lead out all the way to 14 points with 3:13 left, as Jackson continued to pick apart the Bulls offensively. With 10 points in the quarter at this point, he was outscoring the Bulls by himself (10-9).

With the Bulls in danger of dropping a second straight, Hoiberg took to his secret weapon: Anthony Morrow in the closing lineup for the Bulls because, well … who knows.

Next: The Bulls should listen to Daryl Morey

As much as Jimmy Butler tried to do (27 points, nine rebounds and four assists), it just wasn’t enough. Detroit outscored the Bulls by 14 (30-16) and finished off the Bulls for the second time in three meetings this season.