The Chicago Bulls lost to the Portland Trail Blazers 124-108 on Wednesday in the Moda Center. It’s time to check out my one like and dislike from the game.
The Chicago Bulls allowed Portland Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum to drop a career-high 50 points in three quarters and extended their losing streak to five games with a 124-108 loss to the Trailblazers on Wednesday in the Moda Center.
McCollum became the second player in NBA history to score 50 or more points in 30 minutes or less of game time.
CJ McCollum is the second player in the last 30 seasons to score 50 points in less than 30 minutes.
— StatMuse (@statmuse) February 1, 2018
The other was Klay Thompson when he scored 60 points in 3 quarters. pic.twitter.com/6JZ28qUNsq
Fun Fact #1: The Chicago Bulls outscored the Trailblazers 106-104 in the last 43:24 of playing time. The Bulls truly lost the game in the first four-and-a-half minutes of the contest.
Fun Fact #2: The loss by the Chicago Bulls marks their fifth straight loss. That’s tied for the team’s second longest losing streak of the season.
Dislike: Early offense
It would be easy to put McCollum’s scoring output here. A team deserves some slack anytime an opposing player to outscores them in a quarter. McCollum faced minimal resistance throughout the game outside of when guard David Nwaba was checking him and a few frisky defensive possessions by forward Denzel Valentine.
However, the way the Bulls’ offense performed to start the game harmed the team just as much as McCollum’s NBA Jams-esque performance.
The Chicago Bulls opened the game shooting 1-of-11 from the field and 0-of-5 from beyond the arc. It took the Bulls nearly five-and-a-half minutes to score five points in the opening quarter.
The Windy City team failed to create any easy looks for themselves to start the game after their opening possession which resulted in a missed wide open corner 3-pointer by guard/forward Justin Holiday.
Early possessions concluded with contested jump shots far too often. The Bulls didn’t move the ball and trust the offensive system to create easier shots for them.
The team didn’t show signs of offensive competency outside of the opening possession until the second half, and by then it was too late.
The Bulls scored a measly 0.76 points per possession in the first quarter off a 29.6 effective field goal percentage. Both of those numbers are in the zero percentile in comparison to every other NBA game this season. The only area where the Bulls shot an above average percentage was on corner 3-pointers and they only made one.
It’s clear the Chicago Bulls missed guard Kris Dunn, forward Lauri Markkanen and forward Nikola Mirotic, the player of the game. They’re the team’s top-3 scorers. Their offensive struggles weren’t a surprise. But, the lack of effort to play the right way is unacceptable regardless of who’s on the court.
Like: LaVine getting to the basket
Guard Zach LaVine’s offensive production the last two games were dreadful. He tallied 16 points on 5-of-28 shooting and looked like he didn’t have any rhythm when attempting to score. He settled for a lot of bad looks and wasn’t creating good shots for himself.
His recent struggles make last night encouraging. He scored a season-high 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc. The way and sequence of how he scored those points was the best part of the game for him.
LaVine consistently attacked the basket once it became clear the Bulls’ offense was struggling. He took five of his field goal attempts within the paint. He also tallied three shooting fouls. LaVine was rewarded for his aggressiveness with a season-high in free-throws made, free-throw attempts and field goal percentage.
The fourth-year guard out of UCLA got himself into a better rhythm by attacking the rim and knocking down free-throws earlier in the game. It opened the game up for his pull-up mid-range jumpers, which helped him determine his flow on 3-point attempts.
Next: Evaluating Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg
There were a few drives that displayed LaVine’s rust. Portland defenders LaVine blocked or disrupted shots of LaVine’e he would’ve finished with more ease before his injury. He’ll be able to finish better with a steady increase of playing time and the more he gets his legs underneath him.
The Chicago Bulls do a poor job of getting to the rim and finishing when they’re there (26th in frequency of shots within four feet of the basket and 29th in conversion rate). LaVine is one of the only players on the Chicago Bulls roster who can get to the basket at will. LaVine should continue to make a consistent effort to get to the basket as often as he can to make his return to the court smoother and diversify the Bulls’ offense.