Nikola Vucevic could finally be turning a corner with the Bulls

The Chicago Bulls really came out with a bang at the conclusion of their Christmas break under the direction of interim head coach Chris Fleming. In back-to-back games on Dec. 26 and 27, the Bulls downed the Indiana Pacers and Atlanta Hawks, each by pretty comfortable margins of victory.

A source of production that the Bulls are getting on both ends of the floor of late that helped to top the Hawks and Pacers in back-to-back games coming out of the Christmas break this week is the elevated play of star center Nikola Vucevic. After a slow start to the regular season, Vucevic is producing at a level that the Bulls expected him to when they acquired him from the Orlando Magic at the trade deadline last season.

Maybe it was the opening of NBA All-Star voting last week that pushed Vucevic to improve his play. More than likely, he’s starting to settle in to his new role with this big three that also features star shooting guard/forward DeMar DeRozan and shooting guard Zach LaVine in the last few games.

Vucevic definitely just had one of his best games of the season in the Bulls win over the Hawks on Dec. 27. He registered 24 points, a game-high 17 rebounds, six assists, no steals, a game-high four blocks, and three turnovers. And Vucevic shot 9-of-19 from the field, 4-of-8 from beyond the arc, and 2-of-3 from the free-throw line.

This effort for Vucevic was good to see him register his second-best game score of the regular season thus far and his third-best box plus/minus. More specifically, he also registered his best block percentage of the season thus far (10.2).

Moreover, it wasn’t just in the win over the Hawks on Dec. 27 that saw Vucevic play well for the Bulls. He’s played well in each outing of the four-game winning streak that the Bulls are currently sitting on dating back to a Dec. 19 win over the Los Angeles Lakers at home.

Chicago Bulls continuing to get better production out of Nikola Vucevic

In that span, Vucevic has only registered positive net ratings and he has four of his 10 best game scores of the season. And Vucevic just put up his best box plus/minus over a span of any two consecutive games this season in the wins over the Pacers and Hawks on Dec. 26 and 27.

There are multiple encouraging signs indicating that Vucevic is starting to turn a corner for the Bulls. He’s started to find his shooting stroke of late, and he’s rebounding the ball really well. In the month of December alone, Vucevic is shooting a season-high 39.3 percent from beyond the arc.

And Vucevic is averaging more than 18 points per game in December, which is his highest mark of the season to date.

Vucevic still needs to continue working to get the most out of the numerous field goal attempts he’s getting per game. While it was great to see Vucevic register two-dozen points in the Bulls’ Dec. 27 win over the Hawks, you’d like to see him average more than just over one point per field goal attempt when he’s shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc.

Getting his inside-scoring game going and getting to the free-throw line more often should help Vucevic maximize his number of points per field goal attempt in the weeks ahead.

All in all, it’s good to see Vucevic starting to find his groove after a slower start to the season. He’s now closer to his career averages in the way of points per game, rebounds, assists, and three-point shooting percentage this season.

If Vucevic keeps playing like one of the Bulls’ most productive and efficient players as he has of late, he could still contend to get an All-Star nod this season.

Vucevic and the Bulls are now sporting a record of 21-10 following the double-digit win over the Hawks on Dec. 27. Next up for the Bulls is a Dec. 29 meeting with the Hawks again.