If we saw one issue emerge for the Chicago Bulls on a broad basis in the loss at home at the United Center on the night of Oct. 28 at the hands of the New York Knicks, it was losing the battle on the boards. This was the biggest problem on a night of inconsistencies for the Bulls in the first loss of the regular season.
This was also the first loss since the start of the preseason too for the Bulls.
The undefeated run for second-year head coach Billy Donovan and the Bulls ended on Oct. 28 with a comeback that fell just short of the Knicks. But the score indicates that this game was closer than it actually was. A series of untimely mistakes and unforced turnovers for the Knicks late in the fourth quarter created enough havoc for the Bulls to work their way back into it.
A 12-0 run for the Bulls at the end of the game fell just short of forcing it into overtime, or getting the win. Star power forward Julius Randle missed two key free throws late in the game that gave the Bulls the chance to hit a game-winning shot with less than 10 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Star shooting guard/forward DeMar DeRozan had the chance to sink the game-winning shot for the Bulls, but he chucked up an airball. That was an uneventful ending to an otherwise exciting finish to this game.
But the main reason why the Bulls got behind 104-91 at one point in the fourth quarter was their issue on the glass. The Bulls got outrebounded in this game by a margin of 49-37. The Knicks came down with 57 percent of the rebounds in this game and edged out the Bulls on the offensive glass by a margin of six.
The Bulls have to get better on the boards, especially if they want to make all of these small-ball lineups work on a consistent basis. This game also indicates that it might be worth Donovan giving more minutes to the likes of center Tony Bradley and power forward Alize Johnson off the bench.
Star center Nikola Vucevic did come down with a team-high eight rebounds, but that fell way short of the Knicks rebounding leader. Randle came up with a game-high 16 boards to help the Knicks get the edge by a dozen in the battle on the glass.
Nikola Vucevic and the Chicago Bulls can’t win the battle on the boards over Julius Randle and the Knicks
While Vucevic did come up with the most rebounds on the team, he needs to get a better rebounding percentage. Vucevic came up with just a 12.5 total rebounding percentage and didn’t have any offensive boards. He needs to do better if he’s going to be an effective center for the Bulls this season.
The only Bulls player in this game that registered a total rebounding percentage of at least 13.0 was Bradley. And he registered a game-high 28.1 total rebounding percentage. All three of Bradley’s boards came on the offensive end of the floor, giving him a ridiculous offensive rebounding percentage north of 56.
This could be an indication to Donovan and the Bulls to give more minutes in key spots when this team needs help on the glass to Bradley. He can be a very valuable piece situationally off the bench, especially when Vucevic is out of rhythm.
Bradley is also a better defender than Vucevic down low. If the Bulls are facing a ball-dominant big man like Randle that is dominating with inside scoring and/or rebounding, then Bradley can be a good option to slot in to help with defensive matchups.
Following this 104-103 last-second loss for the Bulls to the Knicks on Oct. 28, Chicago is sporting a record of 4-1. Next up is another difficult matchup at home at the United Center for the Bulls, against the Utah Jazz on Oct. 30.