The Chicago Bulls bounced back from a Saturday night loss to the Miami Heat by defeating them on Monday night, 110-102. The Bulls win, combined with a Washington Wizards loss, moved the Bulls back to within one game of the Wizards for the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference.
The rollercoaster of inconsistent play continued in the back-to-back games in Miami. Somehow, the Bulls bounced back in the second game despite the failed comeback on Saturday night.
The first game could have drained the team entering the second game, but instead, Nikola Vucevic stepped up as a leader and helped the team avoid any type of slow start.
Eventually, the rest of the roster stepped up and the Bulls had one of their most promising wins of the season. Unfortunately, we know to not get too excited over any single game from this team.
Still, there are always takeaways to be had and this game is no different.
Chicago Bulls Takeaways: Locking in on Defense Late
On rare occasions this season, the Bulls look like a competent defensive team. The problem is, it is nearly impossible to know when these stretches are going to come. They also don’t tend to last very long and disappear as quickly as they arrived.
One of those stretches of play came against the Heat at the perfect time on Monday. Entering the fourth quarter, the Bulls saw themselves trailing by six points with 12 minutes left to play.
That is when they woke up and turned up the defensive effort. In the final quarter, Mami shot 7-24 (29.2 percent) from the field. On the other end, the Bulls hit 12-19 shots (63.2 percent) and in the process took full control of the game.
Jimmy Butler shot just 1-6 from the field for the Heat in the fourth and Goran Dragic shot just 1-4.
The defensive effort in the final quarter was the primary reason the Bulls outscored the Heat 34-20 in the final 12 minutes of play. The Bulls have been unable to string enough stretches of play li,e this together alls season but will try to build off their late-game performance when they take on the New York Knicks Wednesday in New York.
Chicago Bulls Takeaways: Coby White’s Confidence on the Rise
A positive development since Zach LaVine entered the league’s health and safety protocols has been the play of point guard Coby White. By no means has he been perfect but he has shown incredible improvements and displayed a new level of confidence and understanding as the team’s lead guard.
The continued development of his confidence in himself was on display once again on Monday. Although he struggled in the first half of the game, White did not let that prevent him from contributing. He scored just two points in the first 24 minutes of the game on 1-5 shooting from the field.
He did not fail to make an impact in that half, though. White had five assists against just one turnover in the opening half of play. That level of understanding of how he can help the team offensively by doing different things is very promising.
In the second half, he got going by doing what he does best — scoring. The two-point first half had no effect on White as he came out and scored 15 in the second half behind 4-9 shooting.
That led the team after the break and gave the team a much-needed shot of energy following the intermission. It is crucial that White continues understanding how he can impact the game in different ways while committing to doing so.
He doesn’t have to be the traditional point guard in the NBA to be successful. A high basketball IQ will allow him to be successful in playing the game his way. It’s a small sample size and it is important to not overreact.
It is also important to acknowledge the developments being made as he plays more and more in the NBA. It is a step in the right direction, like many of his games have been recently.
Chicago Bulls Takeaways: Daniel Theis Does it All
Daniel Theis is the story of this game, without a doubt. He made play after play it seemed and if you glance at the box score his numbers are going to jump out at you right away.
Theis went for 23 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists. He added two blocked shots and shot an efficient 10-13 from the field.
23 points (10-13 FGs), 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks.@dtheis10 was an absolute BEAST in tonight's win over the Heat 😤 pic.twitter.com/8yUmZcZVC9
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) April 27, 2021
Somehow that line doesn’t feel like it does justice to the impact he had in this one. There were constant reminders on why he could be around long term for the Bulls. Even those of us that were incredibly high on him when he was originally added have been impressed by what he brings to the table.
His passing is far better than anyone seemed to talk about. This was a trend being noticed in the games leading up to this one, and his fourth-quarter performance was basically a showcase of his talent if the first three quarters didn’t have enough people noticing.
Theis was the X-factor in this game, something that could continue to be the case moving forward. He played all 12 minutes in the fourth quarter and contributed 10 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists with zero turnovers.
That helped him have a +/- +14 in the fourth quarter alone. He quite literally helped lead the Bulls to the come-from-behind victory. Not only is he hoping to help the Bulls to a play in game but he is also playing for a new contract this offseason.