One like and dislike from the Chicago Bulls loss vs. the Boston Celtics
By Khobi Price
The Chicago Bulls lost to the Boston Celtics 105-89 Monday in the United Center. Here’s my one like and dislike from the game.
The Boston Celtics blew out the Chicago Bulls 105-89 Monday in the United Center. The loss ended the Bulls’ six game winning streak vs. the Celtics at home.
Tank-o-meter
The Chicago Bulls’ record is 21-42 after the loss. They have the eighth worst record in the league and are 3.5 games back of the worst record in the association.
Fun Fact #1
The Chicago Bulls have allowed 100 or more points in 17 consecutive games. It’s the Bulls longest streak of allowing their opponents to score 100 or more points in over 30 years.
Fun Fact #2
This was the Chicago Bulls’ 42nd loss of the season. The loss ended their streak of nine straight seasons of having a .500 record or better. The last time the Bulls had a sub-.500 record was during the 2007-08 season. For context, Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant won the Rookie of the Year award as a member of the Seattle Supersonics during the 2007-08 season. Also, guard Ben Gordon led the Chicago Bulls in scoring during the 2007-08 season. The 2007-08 season is also the year the Bulls won the #1 pick in the lottery and drafted former MVP guard Derrick Rose with the top pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.
Dislike: Lack of effort
Oh boy, there was a lot to dislike about this game. Fans should understand how bad it was when Benny the Bull and Red Panda, the Chicago Bulls’ halftime performer for the night, were named the players of the game.
It would be an understatement to say the Chicago Bulls struggled against the Boston Celtics. The Celtics set the tone for the game with a dominant defensive showing from the opening tip-off and didn’t let up until garbage time towards the end of the contest. The Bulls scored an abysmal 92.7 points per 100 possessions (eighth percentile) and tallied a 47.5 effective field goal percentage (23rd percentile).
But, the Bulls have played bad basketball before. Losing a game by 15+ points isn’t new for them. The Bulls have lost by 15 or more points nearly 20 times this season.
However, the Chicago Bulls’ left a lot to be desired with their lack of effort. They came out of the gates with a lethargic energy and seemed unprepared to face the Celtics even though guard Kyrie Irving didn’t play. The Celtics punched the Bulls in the mouth in the first quarter and the Bulls didn’t hit back. They didn’t hustle, they didn’t try to counter the Celtics’ intensity and they didn’t kick their effort into second gear.
“They made us uncomfortable, things got tough and we just shut down,” said Head Coach Fred Hoiberg, according to a March 5 Chicago Tribune article. “We quit playing.
Institutional and structural tanking by the front office is one thing. It undermines the integrity of the game. But, the system of drafting prospects if flawed and rewards the worst teams in the league for being, well, terrible.
It’s a bigger issue when players appear to be unprepared and not care about the outcome of the game. It alienates fans more than tanking and forces people to question how competitive the players are.
Losing, for now, is acceptable. Laying down in the face of adversity is not.
Like: Watching an elite defense
I’ve mentioned before that the Chicago Bulls are not only a bad team, but they are a bad defensive team. Like last night, it can be embarrassing to watch.
So, I hope they learned a few lessons about how to be better defensive team against one of the league’s elite defenses. Hopefully they took notes on how the Celtics closed out hard, played excellent help defense, didn’t give up on plays, made it difficult to score on the interior despite not having a traditional rim protector and played high-level defense for a full 48 minutes.
It’s the only positive takeaway from a game like this.