One like and dislike from the Chicago Bulls win vs. the Washington Wizards

The Chicago Bulls defeated the Washington Wizards 113-94 Sunday in the United Center. Here’s my one like and dislike from the game.

The Chicago Bulls blew out the Washington Wizards 113-94 Sunday in the United Center. The Bulls avoided the season series sweep against the Wizards.

Tank-o-meter

The Chicago Bulls have a 26-51 record after their win vs. the Wizards. They have the eighth worst record in the league and are seven games back of the worst record of the league.

Fun Fact #1

The Chicago Bulls defeated the Orlando Magic Friday. It’s the first time the Bulls won back-to-back games since their Jan. 13 win vs. the Detroit Pistons and their Jan. 15 victory against the Miami Heat.

Fun Fact #2

The Chicago Bulls tied a franchise record with 18 made 3-pointers. They Bulls originally set the record in a March 12, 2011 victory vs. the Utah Jazz. The Bulls have tied the record three times since setting it and all three of those occurrences have happened this season.

Like: Offensive flow

The Chicago Bulls offense reached peak levels against the Wizards. Their passes were crisp. The ball movement was effective. They cut hard in the half-court and ran up-and-down the floor with a purpose. A refreshing energy was injected into the team on the offensive end and it paid off.

The Bulls finished the game shooting over 50 percent from the floor and beyond the arc. The team dished out 30 assists on 43 made field goals. Their offense was scorching in the first quarter. The Bulls scored 1.5 points per possession, made over 60 percent of their field goal attempts and shot a ridiculous 72.7 percent en route to a 36-point opening quarter.

But, the fun part about the Chicago Bulls magnificent offensive showing was multiple players provided significant contributions. Forward Lauri Markkanen finished the contest with a game-high 23 points on 11 shot attempts in 25 minutes of playing time. Guard David Nwaba flashed his underrated passing ability with smart, timely passes and dished out five assists. Forward Bobby Portis provided his typical scoring punch with 18 points on only 10 field goals attempts. Even recently acquired guard Sean Kilpatrick added 14 points in his 23 minutes off the bench.

It’s unlikely the Bulls will play offense at a high level like they did against Washington. It’s also unlikely a team will completely no-show a game like the Wizards (bringing back memories of their Bullets days). But, for one night fans should enjoy a night where the Chicago Bulls brought serious offensive firepower. To say the least, these kinds of nights have been rare in recent memory.

Dislike: Valentine’s “flashy passes”

If you go onto Bulls Twitter, you’ll see a lot of complaints about the Chicago Bulls winning a meaningless game. I get it. The win is counterproductive and hurts their chances in moving up (or down?) the tank board standings.

But, there’s something else I’ve grown to dislike over time. Forward Denzel Valentine tends to make things harder than they have to be and attempts fancy passes he doesn’t need to make.

This pass was a part of sequence in which Valentine got carried away and made an ill-advised pass for the sake of trying to make it look pretty.

I like Valentine. I think he can and will be significant role player for the Chicago Bulls once they find their way out of this rebuild. But, he must chill with these kinds of plays. They rarely pan out in his favor and typically lead to wasted possessions.

Everyone knows he’s a solid playmaker and a gifted passer. He doesn’t need to show-off to prove himself. His skill set will do that for him.