The Chicago Bulls haven’t even reached their final form yet

This Chicago Bulls offense is just getting started as the defense appears to be in mid-season form following their 97-82 victory over the already-floundering Detroit Pistons. The latter was missing first-overall pick Cade Cunningham, who has yet to play this season. But the Bulls have been without top bench-scoring option Coby White.

DeMar DeRozan led all scorers with 21 points, his second game in a row scoring 20-plus. He also had six rebounds, six assists, two blocks, and hit 7-of-9 free throws while turning the ball over just twice. He’s had at least six rebounds in every game this season.

Nikola Vucevic had 15 points and a whopping 19 rebounds on top of three assists, three blocks, two steals to only two giveaways.

Zach LaVine had a quiet night by his standards with 14 points, five assists, and four boards.

It was not a bad night by any of the Bulls big three, but it was not great either as the caveat is they all shot below 39 percent from the floor on the night. DeRozan was the closest at 38.9 percent.

The Chicago Bulls defense is doing work while the offense comes around

Chicago shot 41.7 percent from the floor and 42.3 percent from beyond the arc. That was largely thanks to Patrick Williams (57.1 percent), Lonzo Ball (41.7 percent). Ball followed up his ninth career triple-double with a 13-point outing that included four rebounds and just one assist, but also four blocks and three steals.

The bench duo of Javonte Green and Alex Caruso went a combined 6-of-7 from the floor. Theirs was an especially encouraging performance considering the limited scoring currently on the bench.

After just 10 total points from the bench in the opener, the duo has averaged 20.5 points over the past two games.

The Bulls won the turnover battle 20-10 and held the Pistons to 38.6 percent shooting from the floor and 17.9 percent from outside as DeRozan, LaVine, and Vucevic all finished the game with defensive ratings under 72.

Despite being outrebounded 53-42 overall (11-3 on the offensive glass) and outscored in the paint (again) 54-34 on the evening, Tony Bradley did not see the floor in the second game of a back-to-back. Alize Johnson, the only other rotation player taller than 6-foot-7, played just over five and a half minutes total while rookie guard Ayo Dosunmu got more than 11 which he made the most of.

Chicago won’t get to enjoy their “day off” as they’ll face the 1-2 Raptors in Toronto on Monday. They just lost to the Dallas Mavericks 103-95 and could be without Pascal Siakam, a major loss.

This could be the Bulls’ last chance to beat up on a bad (and wounded) opponent before they take on a gauntlet of 2021 playoff teams and a mostly healthy Dubs squad that has Step Curry averaging 33 points per game.

Toronto rookie Scottie Barnes is off to a hot start of his own, though, and Fred VanVleet won’t continue to struggle from downtown. The Bulls’ defense will need to keep it up even when the offense is finally clicking on all cylinders.