The Chicago Bulls just suffered their toughest loss of the 2019-2020 season. Here are five quick thoughts following the gut-wrenching final minutes.
Chicago Bulls fans are getting all too familiar with the feeling of anguish. Tonight, it came in a magnified form. The Bulls were up big for the majority of the night. They even had the Thunder doubled up 50-25 midway through the second quarter. If this was NBA 2K, OKC would’ve been mercy-ruled. Unfortunately, there’s not a mercy rule in real life. Sigh.
The Thunder came all the way back behind a herculean effort from Chris Paul, defeating the Bulls 109-106. Once again, sigh.
Here are five quick thoughts following the nauseating loss.
1. The Bulls’ first half was special
Most of the good things the Bulls did will be forgotten since they blew the game, but the first half of basketball was the best the Bulls have played all season. They were forcing turnovers, snapping the ball around, getting everyone involved and having fun. It was awesome to watch.
When optimistic fans were thinking about what the Bulls might look like in 2019-20 before the season started, they pictured the team we saw in the first half tonight. Zach LaVine was throwing down merciless dunks, Kris Dunn was a pest, Lauri Markkanen was aggressive inside, Wendell Carter Jr. was doing a little bit of everything.
If you’re looking to take one good thing away from this loss, it looks like the Bulls finally saw what their ceiling can be if they play to their potential.
2. Jim Boylen continues to struggle
I’m not sure Jim Boylen is a bad coach in terms of X’s and O’s (I’m also not sure he’s a good coach in terms of X’s and O’s), but man… he’s bad at managing games.
Tonight, he completely and utterly mismanaged the Bulls’ timeout situation, leaving them with no timeouts when it mattered most. He also took the Bulls’ best rebounder (Carter) out of the game with 4.3 seconds left, allowing the Thunder to grab the rebound off a missed free throw, essentially sealing the victory.
Boylen’s substitution idea wasn’t 100 percent ludicrous. He put Coby White in the game, giving the Bulls some more speed and shooting, but first and foremost, you need to make sure you secure the rebound. Carter should’ve been on the floor to do that.
3. Once Chris Paul started eating, he didn’t stop
Chris Paul was an absolute killer tonight. He didn’t do much in the first half, but he stepped up his game when it mattered most, finishing with 30 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field and 6-of-8 shooting from 3-point range to go along with 10 rebounds and eight assists.
The Bulls helped CP3 out a little bit. They took way too long to figure out that switching the screens was killing them. But you have to give Paul credit for knocking down shot after shot. He wasn’t only knocking down deep threes, though. He was also up to his usual menacing antics (drawing weird fouls and forcing turnovers).
4. Zach LaVine was really, really good
Another thing that will get overlooked from tonight: Zach LaVine was awesome tonight.
He scored 39 points on an efficient 15-of-25 shooting from the field to go along with three assists and two rebounds in 34 minutes of action.
LaVine was doing a really nice job of moving off the ball, freeing himself up for some nasty dunks. He was also solid down the stretch, finishing a tough left-handed layup with 25.9 seconds left to tie the game at 106.
Winning is all that matters, but LaVine’s solid night is a good sign of what’s to come for this team.
5. The refs were… not good
First, let me preface this by saying the refs did not force Chris Paul to go bonkers from 3-point range. They did not force the Bulls to continually switch on defense. They did not force Jim Boylen to make stupefying decisions down the stretch. They did not force Steven Adams to bank in the biggest free throw of the game.
With all that being said, though, this was one of the worst-officiated NBA games I’ve seen in a while. Down the stretch, there were head-scratching calls after head-scratching calls.
Wendell Carter Jr. was called for a bogus foul on a jump ball with Steven Adams. Boylen challenged it and the call was upheld. Zach LaVine pump-faked, got his man in the air, and then went up with the ball and got hacked. No foul. Chris Paul got tied up with the ball when the game was tied with less than five seconds remaining. The refs gave CP3 a timeout even though he clearly didn’t have sole possession of the ball. Those are three examples of game-changing calls that could have (and should have) gone the Bulls’ way.
Chicago will look to bounce back Wednesday evening in Washington D.C.