Entering the second half of the regular season, first-year head coach Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls have a lot of momentum building that they can capitalize on down the stretch. Donovan and the Bulls looked to be one of the most improved teams in the Eastern Conference throughout the first half of the regular season slate.
As the All-Star Break is about to conclude, the Bulls hold a record of 16-18, with their last game resulting in a nice (but close) road win over the New Orleans Pelicans by a four-point margin at the Smoothie King Center back on March 3. That allowed the Bulls to at least head into the All-Star Break on good footing coming off a win.
The Bulls did have one player participating in the festivities during All-Star Weekend the past few days. Star 25-year-old shooting guard Zach LaVine participated in both the All-Star Game and 3-Point Contest. Although his team (Team Durant) lost to Team LeBron in the All-Star Game, and he fell short to the Golden State Warriors superstar point guard Stephen Curry in the 3-Point Contest, it was still nice to see the Bulls have their first All-Star nod in four years in LaVine.
Nonetheless, this team will have to re-focus to get going for what will be a difficult start to the second half of the season’s schedule. They start out with a home meeting with the Philadelphia 76ers and head coach Doc Rivers at the United Center on March 11. That’s not easy for the Bulls to come out of the gates with the team with the best record in the East at this point.
For the Bulls to find traction in the playoff picture in the East in the second half of the regular season, they’ll continue to need their bench to step up and the starting five to provide consistent production. But that’s not always what they got in the first half.
With that in mind, here’s a look into three Bulls players that could disappoint in the second half of the 2020-21 regular season.