Chicago Bulls: 3 Takeaways from 122-113 win over the Raptors

Chicago Bulls: Takeaway no. 1 – The Bulls may be onto something with the bench unit they are building within their rotation

Yep, back to the rotations and decision-making of head coach Billy Donovan with this one. While he may be the one pulling the strings, certain players deserve a lot of credit for how they are approaching the situation.

Specifically, Coby White and Lauri Markkanen. Fans have grown frustrated with them, especially Markkanen this season. That doesn’t mean one shouldn’t see why this could very easily be a discouraging moment for either of the former lottery picks. If either has been discouraged in any way, they certainly haven’t shown it.

They continue saying the right things and are trying to do their part when called upon. Against the Raptors they came together with Daniel Theis and Troy Brown Jr. and showed what this bench unit can become.

Markkanen shot 8-10 on his way to 18 points in just 18 minutes. His +/- of +23 led the Bulls despite playing the second least minutes of the nine players who saw the court. Theis joined him in making his presence felt off the bench as he racked up his first double-double as a member of the Bulls.

He also shot very well from the field like Markkanen, going 6-9 himself in a 14 point 10 rebound performance. Finally, there was White who joined the two big men in reaching double figures off the bench. He contributed 15 points of his own, bringing the team’s bench points in the game to a very nice 47 points.

Troy Brown Jr., the final man off the bench, didn’t score but the bench as a whole still had a successful game. That may be part of the reason, as he didn’t force anything and wound up not taking a single shot attempt in 14 minutes.

Once the final buzzer sounded the Bulls bench outscored the Raptors by a score of 47-20. These kinds of performances are what could get the Bulls rolling into the late stages of the NBA season.