One like and dislike from the Chicago Bulls loss vs. the Detroit Pistons
By Khobi Price
The Chicago Bulls lost to the Detroit Pistons 117-95 Thursday in the Little Caesars Arena. Here’s my one like and dislike from the game.
The Chicago Bulls lost to the Detroit Pistons 117-95 Thursday in the Little Caesars Arena. The Bulls are losing the season series 2-1. The last matchup between the two teams will be on April 11, the final day of the regular season.
Tank-o-meter
The Chicago Bulls have a 24-49 record after their loss to the Pistons. They have the seventh worst record in the league and 5.5 games back of the worst record in the league.
Fun Fact #1
The Chicago Bulls have attempted 10 or less free-throws seven times during the 2017-18 campaign. They’re 1-6 in those seven games and they’ve attempted 10 or less free-throws in each game against the Pistons.
Fun Fact #2
Guard Denzel Valentine scored 18 points in the loss to the Pistons. He has tallied double digit points in 10 of the Chicago Bulls’ 16 games since the All-Star break. He’s averaging 12.3 points. 4.9 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game on 44.7 percent shooting from the field and 45.8 percent shooting from beyond the arc since the All-Star break.
Dislike: Defensive breakdowns
According to Cleaning the Glass, which excludes projected heaves and production in garbage times minutes, the Pistons shot 41 percent from beyond the arc. It marks the third consecutive game in which the Chicago Bulls’ opponent shot 40 percent or better from deep. Similar to the Bulls’ game against the Milwaukee Bucks Friday, the Bulls’ defensive breakdowns were the cause for the Pistons’ hot shooting from 3-point land.
“We let them get comfortable at the start of the game,” said Head Coach Fred Hoiberg, according to a March 24 ESPN article. “They hit some wide-open 3s, and it just snowballed on us from there.”
The Pistons opened the contest with three consecutive 3-pointers in which the Chicago Bulls defended well. After battling back and turning an early 11 point deficit into a seven point deficit, the Chicago Bulls started to break down.
With 4:13 left in the first quarter, Pistons guard Luke Kennard drove towards the lane off a pick-and-roll by Pistons forward Blake Griffin. Center Robin Lopez hedged low to contain both Kennard and Griffin while Valentine recovered from the screen set by Griffin. Guard Justin Holiday helped off his man, Pistons guard/forward Reggie Bullock, to interfere with Griffin’s path towards the basket.
The breakdown happened when Valentine re-entered the play. Lopez stopped Kennard and forced him to pick up his dribble. Valentine should’ve switched onto Lopez’s man, Griffin. This would’ve allowed Holiday to rotate and guard Pistons forward Anthony Tolliver and Bulls forward Bobby Portis could’ve rotated onto Bullock, who was spotting up in the corner.
Miscommunication among the defense occurred
Valentine jogged back to Griffin, but Holiday stay tagged to Griffin. Kennard passed the ball to Bullock, who was left wide open in the corner, and Valetine jogged across the lane to contest his shot. But, it was too late. Bullock splashed an uncontested 3-pointer to increase the Pistons’ lead to double-digits. Another breakdown like the one perviously mentioned occurred a couple possessions later which allowed Tolliver to spot up for an open 3-pointer as well to turn the Pistons’ nine point lead to 12.
The Chicago Bulls making a mini run only to have defensive breakdowns to allow the Pistons to score easy points was a consistent theme of the contest. It halted any momentum they attempted to build for themselves. It’s difficult to read too much into these breakdowns. The Chicago Bulls are a bad team, a bad defensive team and the players are being set up to fail with whacky, rarely played lineups in the spirit of tanking.
But, these are professionals and you’d expect them to be crisper than this. Or, maybe it’s just an organizational flaw. I would say the issue is both sides.
Like: Felicio pass
Center Cristiano Felicio has played impressively the past couple of weeks. He’s gotten back to being an active body on both ends of the floor and has shown off a soft touch on turnaround jumpers in the post. But, it’s his passing that has caught my eye.
With 9:53 left in the second quarter, Felicio posted up Pistons center Andre Drummond on the left block. Felicio stayed patient, let the play develop and connected with guard Jerian Grant for a pinpoint pass. The pass led to an open 3-pointer by Grant. That pass impressed me.