The Other (Point Guard) Guys
Jerian Grant and Michael-Carter Williams both saw extended roles with Rondo sidelined. Both were terrible in Game 3.
Grant got the start in place of Rondo. He saw some success when he pushed the offense quickly without allowing the defense to get set but he didn’t do it enough. He finished with six points, four turnovers and zero assists. Grant has done well this season when given extended minutes, though that wasn’t the case in this game.
Grant had a net rating of -15. He couldn’t find his rhythm on offense and brought close to nothing defensively as he got torched by Isaiah Thomas multiple times.
Michael Carter-Williams looked as out of control as ever. He had a couple of nice steals in the second half, but brought nothing else productive besides that. MCW shouldn’t be seeing the floor in a playoff game, let alone the 23 minutes of run he got tonight.
MCW finished with two points, three assists, and four rebounds. Having a net rating of -3, Carter-Williams actually had one of the best net ratings of Bulls players besides those who only got in for garbage time.
There seems to be no traditional replacement to fill the gaping whole Rondo’s absence has left. Hoiberg should look to try a point-guardless lineup as mentioned earlier. Butler, Wade, Zipser, Mirotic and Lopez makes more sense than playing Grant or MCW.