One like and dislike from the Chicago Bulls loss vs. the Boston Celtics

The Chicago Bulls lost to the Boston Celtics 111-104 Friday in the TD Garden. Here’s my one like and dislike from the game.

The Chicago Bulls lost to the Boston Celtics 111-104 Friday in the TD Garden. The Bulls lost the season series 3-1.

Tank-o-meter

The Chicago Bulls have a 27-52 record after their loss. They have the eighth worst record in the league and are 7.5 games back of the worst record of the league. The Bulls are three games back of the fifth worst record in the league.

Fun Fact #1

Forward Lauri Markkanen scored 20 points in 23 minutes of play in the Chicago Bulls loss. It’s the third consecutive game Markkanen has scored 20 or more points, the longest streak of his NBA career.

Fun Fact #2

Guard David Nwaba tied a career-high in field goal attempts with 14 shots.

Dislike: Holiday in crunch time

It’s perplexing to me that Head Coach Fred Hoiberg decided to use guard Justin Holiday down the stretch of the game. The decision doesn’t confuse me because Holiday isn’t a good player. He’s a solid defender, a good 3-point shooter and makes a positive impact on the Chicago Bulls.

But, I don’t understand what the Bulls gain my playing him 30 minutes in a game this late in the season. I understand the season ending injuries to guards Kris Dunn, Zach LaVine and Denzel Valentine has sapped the team of depth. But, come on now. I would’ve preferred that Nwaba received those crunch time minutes over Holiday.

I know Nwaba was having a rough game offensively. He shot 5-of-14 from the field and 0-of-2 from beyond the arc. However, I would’ve liked to have seen how he would’ve performed in the closing minutes of a tight game. If Hoiberg says he wants to see how the young guys perform down the stretch of games, then giving Nwaba should receive more playing time than Holiday. Holiday isn’t going to a be significant contributor to the Bulls future. But, Nwaba could be an important part of the next era of Chicago Bulls basketball.

Like: Markkanen resistance

If you’ve watched any Chicago Bulls game for more than 10 minutes, then you would’ve noticed the Bulls use a basic weave action to initiate their offense in the half-court. Although the setup can vary, the principle of the play is consistent and usually requires a pass or dribble hand-off from a big man.

Markkanen frequently finds himself in the middle of these weave sequences as the big man delivering the ball from one guard to the other. Sometimes he’ll even bring the ball up and briefly operate as a ball-handler. And typically, defenders just allow him to deliver the ball to a guard without a significant amount of resistance.

However, the Celtics had other plans. Markkanen brought the ball up the floor with a little less than 8:30 minutes left in the first quarter. He was going to hand the ball off to Holiday on the wing. But, Holiday’s man, Celtics guard Jaylen Brown, defended the play well and Markkanen couldn’t hand the ball off to Holiday successfully. This forced Markkanen to turn around and attack the basket since the play broke down. He missed the driving lay-up attempt, but I was encouraged that he improvised the play.

I’ve wanted the Chicago Bulls to get a little more creative with how they use Markkanen as a ball-handler. He has exceptional ball-handling skills for a 7-footer.

Hoiberg could throw in a twist where the guard Markkanen is supposed to hand the ball off to sets a side screen for him and opens space on the baseline. This action could catch defenders off guard and open more scoring opportunities for the rookie forward.

Like #2: Asik debut

Is it weird to have two likes in a loss? It might be. But, I don’t care. The return of center Omer Asik and his season debut with the Chicago Bulls deserves some love. His appearance in the contest was memorable from a pure nostalgic standpoint.

He played okay in his return to the team. But, this wasn’t about how he performed. The mere appearance of him playing in a Bulls jersey made me smile, and the memories of the 2010-11 and 2011-12 Bulls teams, earned him the “like” nod.