The fatigue must have caught up to the Chicago Bulls as they suffered their worst loss in franchise history to the Boston Celtics 133-77.
PSA: Newly appointed Chicago Bulls head coach Jim Boylen will not hesitate to take his players out of the game if they aren’t ready to perform. Boylen went with the old hockey substitution, subbing out his entire starting five early on in the first quarter and again at the 9:02 mark in the 3rd quarter.
The starters never took the court again and watched the rest of the final 21 minutes on the bench. The starters combined for a total of 27 points. Boylen’s reasoning behind benching the starting five? He believed that the practice today would benefit them more than in a game that was already lost. Lauri Markkanen and Zach LaVine – who finished the game with 8 and 11 points respectively – spoke postgame about the five-man substitutions. Their quotes can be seen below.
"“You deserve it if you don’t play hard.” – Chicago Bulls power forward, Lauri Markkanen“It is what it is. You gotta do what he says.” – Chicago Bulls shooting guard, Zach LaVine"
Despite the struggles from the starting five, the Chicago Bulls didn’t do them any favors either as they seemed to settle for jump-shot after jump-shot. They took 24 three-pointers and only converted on 6 of them.
The second unit’s effort was slightly better than the starting five as they slowly crawled back into the game in the second quarter. But, it still wasn’t enough. Second-year point guard Shaquille Harrison led the second unit with 20 points and shot an efficient 8-of-15 from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point range.
Player of the Game: Point guard | Shaquille Harrison
In the three games that Shaquille Harrison has been given 20+ minutes of playing time, he’s recorded some stellar stat lines, albeit all of them are in double-digit losses. His following game logs from those games are as follows:
- 11/14 at Boston: 23 minutes – 16 points (7-of-10), 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 steals
- 11/17 vs Toronto: 27 minutes – 7 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals
- 12/8 vs Boston: 29 minutes – 20 points (8-of-15, 3-of-5 3PT), 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 block
If you ask me, those are some impressive stats for just a second-year guard and a player that the Bulls picked up off the street. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, Shaquille Harrison is a young and athletic guard that the Bulls should continue to turn to until Kris Dunn comes back from injury. His recent play has earned him, in my eyes, a look at third-string point guard duties when this team is at full strength.
We’ll see how Jim Boylen sorts through his lineup and rotation after this historic loss. You can be sure of this, though. Multiple down-and-backs are in the works for today’s practice.