The Chicago Bulls defeated the Atlanta Hawks 113-97 Saturday evening. It’s time to check out the one thing I liked and one thing I disliked about the game.
The Chicago Bulls defeated the Atlanta Hawks for the second time this season. Their next matchup will be on Mar. 11 in Phillips Arena.
Fun Fact #1: The Bulls made 14 3-pointers in Wednesday’s game. This means they’ve made at least 10 3-pointers in 16 of their last 18 games. This includes a current streak of ten straight games, the longest in franchise history.
Fun fact #2: This is the 20th time in 23 games the Bulls have scored 100 points or more. The Bulls tallied a 15-8 record over those 23 games and went 1-2 in the games they scored less than 100 points. They scored 100 or more points eight times in their first 23 games.
(Bonus fun fact!)
Fun fact #3: Lauri Markkanen‘s streak of making two or more 3-pointers snapped at 12 games, tying Mike Miller’s NBA rookie record.
Lauri Markkanen goes 0-4 from 3-point range and has his streak of making 2 or more snapped at 12 games, tying Mike Miller’s NBA rookie record.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) January 21, 2018
Like: Markkanen’s interior scoring
Markkanen attacked the rim with a ferocity we haven’t seen before in his young career. You can watch all six of his dunks below in case you missed any of them.
Lauri got mean tonight and threw down six (!) dunks. The rims in Atlanta may never be the same. pic.twitter.com/zKtavBiDtx
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) January 21, 2018
His dunks came in a variety of ways. A couple of them happened because he took advantage of having on a smaller player defending him in the paint. The best ones were when he capitalized off the Hawks’ confusion and made back cuts to the basket for open rim-rattling dunks.
Markkanen’s dunks were a lot more entertaining than watching Robin Lopez, the player of the game, baby hook his way to 20 points last night. But, the dunks were more than just a fun spectacle to witness. They helped demonstrate Markkanen can be an effective scorer even on days when his jump shot isn’t falling.
The game against the Hawks was the 12th time Markkanen has scored at least 19 points in a NBA game. It was the third time he reached that scoring mark without making more than one 3-pointer and the first time he scored 19 or more points without making a single 3-pointer.
Markkanen demonstrating he’s more than just a shooter is another win for a Chicago Bulls team that’s been racking up a lot of them lately.
Dislike: The tank running on empty
The Chicago Bulls have won 15 of their last 23 games. They’re almost as close to making the playoffs (5.5 games behind the eight seed in the Eastern Conference) as they are to being the worst team in the league.
They’re beating teams they’re supposed to beat and are competitive against playoff contenders. Nikola Mirotic is still on the roster even though it’s almost been a week since he became eligible to be traded.
Zach LaVine made his return to the court recently and will begin to feel more comfortable with each game he plays. Markkanen has been playing great basketball since returning from back spasms that kept him out for three games. Lopez is solid and Kris Dunn should be just as productive as he was before he suffered a concussion.
It’s reasonable to believe the last 23 games are indicative of who the Chicago Bulls will be for the rest of the season; a fun, hardworking and competitive team who can beat anyone on any given night if they aren’t taken seriously.
The Chicago will face the New Orleans Pelicans, Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks, Portland Trailblazers, Los Angeles Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Washington Wizards in seven of their next nine games. Maybe those games will help them get back on their tanking track.
But, with seven of their nine games following that stretch being against the Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets, Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzles (twice), Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks, it’s easy to see this Bulls team leveling out and remain in playoff contention.
That’s great for team morale and helping the young guys gain meaningful experience. However, for a Chicago Bulls team who was trying to escape mediocrity and use this season to catapult them to acquiring more young prospects, it’s their worst nightmare.