We may have gotten ahead of ourselves when talking about the Chicago Bulls in late-game situations. By we, I mean me, specifically. Sorry.
Earlier in the season, I wrote an article about how good the Bulls looked in late-game situations. At that time, they did look great in clutch time, for the record! They started 4-0 in clutch games, playing composed and calm hoops when things got tight down the stretch.
In the past month, the Bulls have looked agitated and anxious when the game gets close. During November, the Bulls played the second-most clutch minutes in the league, and had the sixth-worst net rating. In other words, they're good enough to stay competitive but not quite good enough to finish games.
We saw this happen in Monday's game against the Magic; the game was tied after the third quarter, and the Bulls had chances to win down the stretch, but couldn't land the knockout blow in what would have been a signature win. It happened
Bulls are floundering in clutch time, and it could haunt them
It feels like the sky is falling on the Bulls right now. Losses to the Hornets and Pelicans and a near-loss to the Wizards will do that.
Still, if the season ended today, the Bulls would be in the play-in once again. That's how thin the East is this year. This team does not have to be perfect to stay competitive in the standings. In fact, they don't even have to be good. But they must be passable in late-game scenarios, because those situations are clearly going to present often for this team.
The Bulls don't have to be the best clutch team in basketball. With so many young players getting real minutes (and often finishing games), no one should expect them to, either. There will be some learning experiences and that's fine — but right now, I don't think fans have any confidence in this team shutting the door on opponents, and the team itself doesn't appear to have that confidence, either.
How can the Bulls fix their late-game blues?
Speed up!
The Bulls don't have an overpowering offense — but they wear teams down by running, running, and running some more. Overall, the Bulls are the second-fastest team in basketball by pace and are No. 5 in fast break points. But in clutch time, they slow down to No. 17 in pace.
I know that the game slows down when things get tight, and often that's by design. But the Bulls turn into a different team in close games, and the half-court offense isn't good enough to compete every possession, especially against good defenses.
Again, the Bulls don't need to be a behemoth in the fourth quarter. They just need to stay competitive. After a thrilling start in which fans got used to winning close games, this team has come all the way back to Earth. And smashed through the planet's exterior all the way to the core. That's how hard they crashed down. If they can dig their way out, the excitement that surrounded this team in the first few weeks can start to come