A solid three-game winning streak that first-year head coach Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls built up last week has gone all for naught of late. The Bulls weren’t able to capitalize on that momentum in their last two games, as the schedule got increasingly more difficult. On the night of Jan. 23, the Bulls had to try their hand against the defending NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers.
In that meeting with the Lakers at home on Jan. 23, the Bulls fell short by a margin of more than 20 points. The Bulls came out very slow in the first half, and didn’t come close to making enough ground in the second half.
It did not get much better for Donovan and the Bulls as they faced the Boston Celtics in their second straight home game on the night of Jan. 25. In what will be the Bulls last game until Jan. 30 (thanks to the Memphis Grizzlies matchup getting pushed back due to COVID-19 related issues), they fell short to the Celtics by a convincing double-digit margin.
What this all shows is that this rebuilding process for the Bulls under a new front office regime and a largely new look coaching staff is still going to take time. As the Bulls still try to figure things out in the fourth year of the rebuild, it will continue to be an up and down ride for the fan base emotionally.
The rebuild does look to be making significant progress, despite some down stretches this season for this young Bulls team. Trust the process as Philadelphia 76ers fans would once say.
With all of this in mind, here’s a look into three Bulls players that are going through concerning dips in play of late.