The Bulls are back in the win column following a 107-94 victory over the Washington Wizards, but the cracks are still there.
The Chicago Bulls secured a much-needed road victory over the struggling Washington Wizards Tuesday night and are now tasked with the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night. The Bulls were coming off a back-to-back and had only won four games in the month of March prior to the game. It took a dominant performance from the Chicago’s big three to make it happen.
DeMar DeRozan had 14 fourth-quarter points and ended the game with 32. Nikola Vucevic carried much of the night, scoring 27 points. LaVine had zero points in the first half but ended the game with 14, including the dagger three.
But scoring hasn’t been the issue for Chicago, especially against sub-.500 teams. Their “Big 3” has been solid in getting buckets. The problem has been their role player production. In their win against the Wizards, the bench was able to score 39 points.
The Bulls are great bullying bum teams ... with this soon-to-be-win they will move to 22-10 against teams below .500. It's the big sharks they can't swim with.
— Joe Cowley (@JCowleyHoops) March 30, 2022
What can Billy Donovan learn from Tyronn Lue and the Clippers?
That’s the first time they’ve collectively scored over 35 points since mid-February. Billy Donovan has been playing with his rotations since Mar. 20, and on Tuesday night inserted Coby White into the closing lineup. The move worked and the Bulls are holding onto the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference standings.
Now, for the Clippers … a team whose secondary players have had to expand outside of their role for the entire season. The Clippers entered the season without their best player in Kawhi Leonard, who is likely out for the season after tearing is ACL in last year’s playoffs. Their second star, Paul George, went down with an elbow injury in December and just made his return to the floor on Tuesday.
With that said, the Clippers are the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference and will have a chance to grab the No. 7 spot in the play-in tournament. For most nights this year, a new player for the Clippers has had to step up. There’s rarely ever a moment where the team looks unprepared and overwhelmingly outmatched.
They might not be a top seed in the west, and they might get knocked out in the play-in. But they compete at a high level night in and night out, regardless of who is on the floor.
The Bulls need to look at that mentality for inspiration. Throughout their late-season collapse, they have referenced the absence of players because of injury, their stars dealing with nagging issues, and a tough schedule. At the end of the day, every team is getting the same 82 games and have to make do.
The Clippers have found success with their 82 games, hanging their hat on staunch defense as well as trusting each other on the offensive end.
The team’s defensive identity is built from toughness. They aren”t scared of contact — as a matter of fact, they welcome it and create it. It’s not the prettiest or most likable brand of basketball, but it works for them.
On offense, they’re always moving, both the ball and bodies. They never get caught standing when someone is handling the ball up top. And ball-handlers never over-dribble. The constant movement ensure there’s rarely any stagnant moments. That’s based in trust.
The Bulls don’t full have that. While DeRozan has been cooking, it hasn’t been the most efficient stretch of his career. In New York, he took 26 shot attempts and followed that by talking 27 against Washington.
LaVine hasn’t had the same volume, but has been over-dribbling and taking bad shots during this rough stretch. Those trends may be in response to the lack of role player production, and further alienating other contributors is only going to make the problem worse.
The Bulls need to take a page out of the Clippers playbook and quickly decide on their defensive identity and start trusting each other, or their cracks are going to continue to grow.