Winning both games in their back-to-back in the last two days was huge for the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls downed the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets, with both games in this back-to-back coming at home at the United Center on Dec. 19 and 20. It started out with a five-point win over the Lakers to cap the weekend on Dec. 19, and then the Bulls downed the Rockets by a more convincing 15-point margin on Dec. 20.
There are multiple players that can be credited with coming through in a big way to help the Bulls get these two wins while the team was shorthanded in these back-to-back games. But the two most notable are star shooting guard/forward DeMar DeRozan and point guard Lonzo Ball.
DeRozan was great for the Bulls as he registered a game-high 38 points (including 19 coming in the fourth quarter) in the Dec. 19 115-110 home win over the Lakers. He was also stout, coming up with 26 points, in the Bulls’ Dec. 20 win over the Rockets.
Yet, it was the two-way efforts of Lonzo that really powered the Bulls to get the 15-point win over the Rockets in the back end of the back-to-back games. Lonzo put forth a tremendous effort on both ends of the floor, which not only helped the Bulls to outshoot the Rockets, by they won the turnover battle by a good margin too.
In this win over the Rockets, Lonzo came up with 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field, 4-of-9 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 3-of-3 from the free-throw line. He also registered five rebounds, eight assists, five steals, one block, and two turnovers.
While it was easy to get swept away by the awesome storyline that was the Chicago native and recently signed forward Alfonzo McKinnie having a great night with a season-high 16 points, Lonzo was the best two-way player for the Bulls against the Rockets. He posted a game-high 11.4 box plus/minus and led the team in steal percentage (north of seven).
This type of effort coming from Lonzo is not something that is new to Bulls fans this season, though. For the second time this season in the win over the Rockets, he had a game with at least a dozen points, six assists, and five steals while shooting at least 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc.
He pulled off this feat last month too in a late November win over the Orlando Magic.
Chicago Bulls continue to get impressive two-way production from Lonzo Ball this season
There are only 2 players this season that have registered at least 12 points, 6 assists, and 5 steals in a game while shooting at least 50% from the field and 40% from 3:
— Pippen Ain't Easy (@BullsBeatBlog) December 21, 2021
-Lonzo Ball has now done it twice
-Stephen Curry has done it once pic.twitter.com/jiirI0yeBP
Lonzo is now only one of two players in the NBA to do that this season in a single game. the other is the Golden State Warriors superstar point guard Stephen Curry.
Lonzo Ball stuffed the stat sheet tonight.
— StatMuse (@statmuse) December 21, 2021
19 PTS
5 REB
8 AST
5 STL
1 BLK
He is averaging 1.8 steals and 1.0 blocks this season. No other point guard in NBA history has ever averaged 1.5s/1b for the entire season. pic.twitter.com/gp7zyKoMli
According to a tweet from Statmuse on Dec. 20, Lonzo is also on pace to be the first point guard in NBA history to average at least 1.5 steals per game and 1.0 blocks. He is currently averaging 1.8 steals per game and 1.0 blocks through 29 games played this season.
That is one of two key indicators of just how well Lonzo has played on both ends of the floor so far this season. There is one other indicator that points to how good Lonzo has played for the Bulls in his first year in Chicago.
More on Lonzo Ball. If he keeps up his current pace of averaging at least 12 PPG, 5 RPG, 5 APG, 1 BPG, and 1 SPG, while shooting at least 40% from 3, he would be one of two guards ever to do so in NBA history. The other is Dwyane Wade. He would also be the only PG to ever do it. pic.twitter.com/zMUqryGGbp
— Pippen Ain't Easy (@BullsBeatBlog) December 21, 2021
Lonzo is currently averaging around 13 points per game, five rebounds, five assists, two steals, and one block this season. He is also shooting north of 40 percent from beyond the arc. If his stats hold to form, he could be one of two guards in NBA history to average at least a dozen points per game, five rebounds, five assists, one steal, and one block, while shooting at least 40 percent from beyond the arc.
The only other player to do that is the legendary Miami Heat shooting guard and Hall-of-Famer Dwyane Wade.
So far this season, Lonzo is filling essentially the exact role that the Bulls need him to. He’s not the flashiest scorer, especially compared to someone like DeRozan or star shooting guard Zach LaVine, but his impact on both ends of the floor is definitely being felt in a big way.
Lonzo and the fellow former Los Angeles Lakers point guard Alex Caruso are making some of the biggest two-way impacts of any players for the Bulls through nearly 30 games this season. Bulls fans shouldn’t underestimate how much they are both doing for this team so far.