The Chicago Bulls lost to the New Orleans Pelicans 132-128 in double overtime Monday in the Smoothie King Center. It’s time to check out the one thing I liked and one thing I disliked about the game.
The Chicago Bulls fell victim to a dominant 44 point, 24 rebound and 10 assist game by Pelicans center DeMarcus Cousins.
It was the first time someone recorded 40 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists in a single game since center Wilt Chamberlain did on Mar. 18, 1968. Cousins sealed the victory for the Pelicans with two free-throws in double overtime to cap off his historic night.
Fun Fact #1: The Bulls made eight 3-pointers in Monday’s game. This means their streak of games making at least 10 3-pointers ended at ten straight games, the longest in franchise history.
Fun fact #2: This is the 21st time in 24 games the Bulls have scored 100 points or more. Bulls tallied a 15-9 record over those 24 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.
Dislike: Turnovers
The Chicago Bulls were uncharacteristically sloppy with the ball last night. Bulls committed 24 turnovers, which marked the first time the Bulls had 20 or more turnovers in a game since the teams’ Mar. 5, 2016 loss to the Rockets.
The 10 minutes of extra playing time, which allows for more opportunities to cough up the ball, aren’t the sole factor for the Bulls’ carelessness with the rock.
Nikola Mirotic and David Nwaba were the only Bulls who played at least 10 minutes and didn’t commit two or more turnovers.
Bulls only scored 104.1 points per 100 possessions, which is in the 37 percentile. Their bad passes and offensive turnovers, along with their poor shooting from 3-point range, crippled their offensive efficiency for the night.
The Bulls sloppy play throughout the game came back to haunt them at the worst time. They had four turnovers in the second overtime. Three consecutive Bulls’ possessions with less than two minutes in the game ended in them giving the ball back to the Pelicans.
Jerian Grant, who started in place of the injured guard Kris Dunn, negated his career-night with 22 points, 13 assists and five rebounds by committing a game-high six turnovers. He had two costly turnovers down the stretch of the game.
Nights like last night don’t come often for the Bulls. They’re one of the best teams when it comes to taking care of the ball. Last night should be a reminder they aren’t good enough of an offensive team to play sloppily and expect to win.
Like: Getting to the rim
The Chicago Bulls struggle getting to the basket. They rank 26th in percent of shots within four feet of the rim, and finishing at the rim, 24th in shooting percentage of shots within four feet of the rim.
This is a result of a lack of dynamic scorers and playmakers on the roster. Which made watching them to get the rim, and the free-throw line as well, a joy to watch.
36 percent of their shots came at the rim. This is an average mark by the league’s standards, but it’s the Bulls eight highest mark of shot frequency at the rim this season.
Their shooting accuracy of attempts at the rim was their most astonishing feat of the night. They made 24 of their 28 shots (87.5 percent) at the rim and drew eight shooting fouls in those situations. This is their best mark of the season.
The return of Zach LaVine is going to make it easier for the Bulls to get to the bucket. His return, along with the underrated passing skills of Lauri Markkanen, the Bulls player of the game, make plays like these possible.
.@ZachLavine having some fun out there pic.twitter.com/wCzHq3H1kG
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) January 23, 2018
It’s unlikely the Bulls continue to get to and finish at the rim at the level they did last night. The Pelicans do a poor job of allowing preventing teams to score at the rim. But, it gave a glimpse of the kind of offensive action the Bulls can execute when they put the effort into it.