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2017 NBA Playoffs, Game 3 Outlook: Chicago Bulls vs. Boston Celtics

By Michael RENE KANOY

Apr 18, 2017; Boston, MA, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Jimmy Butler (21) sets a screen against Boston Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas (4) and forward Jae Crowder (99) to help point guard Rajon Rondo (9) during the first quarter in game two of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 18, 2017; Boston, MA, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Jimmy Butler (21) sets a screen against Boston Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas (4) and forward Jae Crowder (99) to help point guard Rajon Rondo (9) during the first quarter in game two of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports /
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Bobby Portis, F/C, Chicago Bulls
Mar 4, 2017; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Bobby Portis (5) reacts during the second half against the LA Clippers at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports /

Bobby Portis becoming a factor again

If there is any player on the Bulls who can will his team to win, it is Bobby Portis disrupting the Celtics defense by knocking down long range and mid-range shots as well as scrapping for rebounds like each game was Game 7.

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    • An intense player, Portis took some time to know his role in Hoiberg’s variable geometry offense, but once he gets his game going and he plays consistently, the Taj Gibson fire sale will be a stroke of genius by Bulls’ general manager Gar Forman.

    Butler, Rondo and Dwyane Wade do their part already for the team and they only need the bench to be there to punch holes in Boston’s game plan where they least expect the Bulls offense to click. Portis is the next generation, dock-working Bench Mob hero after Taj Gibson and his predecessors.

    Portis has had five consecutive games of averaging 12.4 points on 63.4 percent percent shooting efficiency and shot 61.5 percent from long range in 13 attempts. If Portis can school his defender in the next few games the Bulls play at home and put up good numbers, it might be better to swing more of the offense to him because he is a tall shooter and if he can shake off his mark with fakes and attack the paint with his underrated floater, no one will stop him from scoring 30 starting with Game 3 and closing out the series.

    Portis is a crucial and unexpected wild card for the Bulls in this series and no one knows which Bulls player that’s going to rise up to the occasion and help the “Three Alphas” win. That’s partly why it will be tough to scout Hoiberg’s offense if they can maintain their strong passing game and outside shooting. Portis’ coming out party is just the beginning.

    He wasn’t used in Game 2 much as a tactical ploy by the Bulls bench to disrupt Stevens’ game plan on defending him and not knowing Mirotic and Zipser can play the same role, so the Bulls got a lot out of the unexpected mismatch of having Portis-like players run the same offense as Crazy Eyes himself and Stevens not seeing the damage until the final score.

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