Every game against a top opponent will be a referendum on the Chicago Bulls in the eyes of many. Despite being less than 15 percent of the way through the season, many feel their loss to the Golden State Warriors was proof-positive that this team isn’t as legit. After all, they’ve also lost to the Philadelphia 76ers (twice) and the New York Knicks.
Their latest meeting with the former led to center Nikola Vucevic entering into health and safety protocols.
His absence was certainly felt in the loss.
The Chicago Bulls resembled previous (bad) versions of themselves in their loss to the Warriors
Things started off well enough with the Bulls taking a 29-23 lead into the second quarter on the strength of seven Warriors turnovers and 10 points on 80 percent shooting from Zach LaVine. DeMar DeRozan was matched by rookie Ayo Dosunmu with six points in the first frame, though, the former was far less efficient in getting his.
The game seemingly flipped on its ear in the second quarter. Chicago shot 35 percent from the floor and went 0-for-4 from outside.
They scored 16 points in the quarter with no one scoring over four points.
Perhaps in an ineffective adjustment to the Warriors deploying the box-and-1 defense against LaVine (who finished with 23 points and six rebounds but no assist), Lonzo Ball led the team with seven shots in the second quarter. He would hit just one of them going 0-for-3 from deep in the process.
Ball finished five points on 18.2 percent shooting and 1-for-7 from three just a game after he had 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting from three.
He was also tasked with the lion’s share of guard duties on Steph Curry.
Curry scored 12 of his 40 points on Ball, shooting 55.6 percent from three. Ball did hold Curry to 2-of-6 shooting from three. The latter was 7-of-11 from downtown against all other Chicago defenders.
Bulls not named ‘Zach LaVine’ were 12-of-32 from the floor and 2-of-9 from outside in the first half.
The problem is their struggles didn’t end in the first half. Chicago was outscored 35-17 in the first half and 63-33 in the second and third quarters. LaVine went 2-of-6 from the floor for five points and was the Bulls high-man in the third frame. The team shot just 25 percent from the floor and 2-of-12 from beyond the arc.
LaVine returned the Warriors favor from the first quarter with five (!!) turnovers in the third including three straight possessions.
They would bounce back in the fourth to shoot 63.2 percent overall and 3-of-5 from three as Golden State’s defense backed off. But the damage was already done.
In their first game without Vucevic, the Bulls looked very stagnant once the Warriors adjusted to LaVine. DeRozan finished with just 18 points; his second game in a row with fewer than 20 points after reaching the mark in nine straight.
This one seemed like a confluence of all the bad. It was the first game without Vooch against the best team in the NBA and the arguable early-season MVP. They had a rough night from the field and let that take them out of their defensive game. That cannot happen if they want to reach their potential this season.
Fortunately, they don’t see Golden State again until Jan 14. Unfortunately, teams will try to replicate the Warriors defensive strategy to frustrate this team without the outlet Vucevic provides. We will see how well this group adjusts going forward.