One like and dislike from the Chicago Bulls win vs. the Orlando Magic

The Chicago Bulls defeated the Orlando Magic 90-82 Friday in the Amway Center. Here’s my one like and dislike from the game.

The Chicago Bulls snapped their seven-game losing streak with a 90-82 win against the Orlando Magic on Friday in the Amway Center. The Bulls swept the Magic in the season series 4-0.

Tank-o-meter

The Chicago Bulls have a 25-51 record after their win vs. the Magic. They have the eighth worst record in the league and are 6.5 games back of the worst record of the league.

Fun Fact #1

The Chicago Bulls won the game despite scoring only 90 points. It’s the first time the Bulls scored 90 points or fewer in a win since their Dec. 26. 2016 victory against the Indiana Pacers.

Fun Fact #2

The Chicago Bulls shot a putrid 35.7 percent from the field. The last time the Bulls won a game despite shooting 35.7 percent or less from the field was their Dec. 10, 2015 game against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Like: Tank efforts

I admire the tank efforts deployed by Head Coach Fred Hoiberg. According to Cleaning the Glass and the NBA’s official website, the “crunch time” lineup of guards Ryan Arcidiacono, Jerian Grant and Sean Kilpatrick, forward Noah Vonleh and center Cristiano Felicio didn’t play a single minute together before this game. The lack of continuity, along with high-end talent on the floor, would typically be a perfect recipe for a loss.

But, things don’t always go as planned. The Chicago Bulls comfortably won the game even though they did everything a team could do to lose. This speaks to the greater tank efforts of the Magic. Orlando has reverted to using Magic forward Aaron Gordon as a small forward, despite it being clear the team plays better when Gordon is the power forward.

Kudos to the Magic. They won this battle of the tanks.

Dislike: The entire game

This was just a bad game of basketball. Both teams shot below 36 percent from the field and played an ugly brand of basketball. That’s what happens when two of the worst teams in the league play each other in late March, when tanking teams are doing their best to position themselves for better NBA Draft lottery odds.

Forward Lauri Markkanen prevented the contest from being a complete disaster with a few nice plays.

Guard Cameron Payne also delivered 11 points and six assists in only 21 minutes of play. Payne, Markkanen and a great hustle play by Arcidiacono made the ugly game easier to digest.