Chicago Bulls vs. Orlando Magic Takeaways: Magic, WYD?

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Apr 10, 2017; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Jimmy Butler (21) reacts after being fouled by the Orlando Magic during the second half at the United Center. Chicago defeated Orlando 122- 75. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports /

A game of lineups that work, and didn’t

This is a really strange game to try and judge or read into for their upcoming season-deciding showdown with the Nets on Wednesday.

On the one hand, Chicago laid the smack down on Orlando. On the other hand, the Magic were so awful on their own, who knows just how good things are really going for the Bulls right now. They did make a big push to get back into the playoff picture, winning four games in a row, but on both sides of that streak, they were alternating wins and losses.

Now, they’ll need to buck that trend or find themselves at the mercy of the Miami Heat less than 48 hours from now.

With Rondo likely to be unavailable for that game, here’s some things to consider from the lineups Hoiberg deployed tonight in the route of Orlando.

The starting lineup was a huge winner to start the game. Grant, Dwyane Wade, Jimmy Butler, Robin Lopez and Nikola Mirotic did great things early on, blowing the doors off this game and assuring a Chicago victory before anything the game really got going. However, an 18-2 run early and a plus-12 shift didn’t translate as well to open the second half.

The starters got a small run in the opening of the third quarter, but their shift finished with a minus-one, not nearly the same rousing success they put together to open the game. There was a simple change that improved things quickly – sub out Wade in favor of Paul Zipser. As incredible as it may seem, that was the only change Hoiberg made during the third quarter. He opted to get his starting group their minutes during the third and opted to not bring back four of the five for any playing time in the fourth quarter of the blowout.

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Zipser didn’t come out and shoot the Magic off the court, in fact he didn’t even score and shot 0-for-2 from the field. With him in the lineup, Chicago still turned the corner and went from minus-one with Wade to plus-seven with Zipser. That’s a good turnaround. There were other factors, such as the dud lineup for Orlando that featured Jodie Meeks, D.J. Augustin and Bismack Biyombo, but I’m willing to credit some of that to the change in the Bulls lineup.

That might be an inaccurate assertion, but it will be something to watch for again on Wednesday night – how do the starters fare with Wade vs. Zipser? The next game is the last one of the season and it is going to be a big deal. A Chicago win and they’re in. If they lose, they’ll need a Miami loss to get in. There’s more to it than just that, but that is the simple way of looking at it. Indiana still has a role to play in all of this, too. They’ll play Atlanta on Wednesday. You’d like a more clear long-term direction from ownership, but the fate of the team coming down to the last game of the season is about as much excitement as you can ask for from Game 82.

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