This is it. The season is on the line on Friday night for the Chicago Bulls. Win and head back to Boston for a Game 7 or let the Banana Boat festivities begin this summer.
The Chicago Bulls have returned to Earth after racing out to an improbable 2-0 series lead. The Bulls now trail 3-2 and face an elimination game in the United Center on Friday night. Rajon Rondo has already been ruled out for Game 6 and Isaiah Canaan will get to start again.
Since Rondo’s exit due to injury, these Chicago Bulls have failed to score 100 points in any of the past three games. When your defense isn’t top notch, that isn’t enough to cut it and the Bulls defense has definitely not been top notch.
Even though Rondo’s loss may be responsible for a sizable chunk of Chicago’s decline, this series captures the 2016-17 Bulls nicely. A couple of games strung together where everything is working as intended and make you say, “Oh, the Bulls!”
And then, the flaws show up. Lack of spacing kills the offense because fluky shots aren’t falling. Too many awful shots coming late in the shot clock, along with more awful out of timeout plays by Fred Hoiberg. Hopefully, the Bulls get hot on Friday night.
Here’s three things to look for against the Celtics.