Comeback Complete

The Chicago Bulls took on a very talented Boston Celtics on Monday night in Boston. The Bulls were able to steal a game in TD Garden last year & fans were hoping for the same this year. With Patrick Williams gone for the season, I anticipated this game to be the first true test with the forward position being thin. Jayson Tatum & Jaylen Brown are the 1-2 punch for the Celtics along with talents like Marcus Smart, Al Horford, Grant Williams & Robert Williams. The Celtics have been a pretty disappointing team the last couple years & the start of this year as well; with one all-star in Tatum & another borderline all-star in Brown, everyone expected them to take a leap & become a dynamic duo for years to come. In my opinion, I’ve always seen Brown as a better player than Tatum—both offensively & defensively. Feel free to call me crazy. Tatum is pretty one dimensional & not that great of a playmaker; he has too much of an iso game & is not an efficient scorer. Brown isn’t a great playmaker either but he is a great defending wing player who can score on all three levels. I think the Cs made a mistake by focusing their attention on the growth of Tatum over Brown but, that’s a conversation for a different day. Let’s get to my thoughts on this very bumpy & heart racing game.

It’s been rare to see the Bulls coming out hot & firing on all cylinders in the beginning of the game. So, I was shocked to see multiple threes falling in & average defense being played in the first quarter. Zach once again had a slow start & in my opinion, seemed sluggish. Turnovers are seemingly to be a rather consistent issue with them committing 6 turnovers in just the first quarter, letting their 9-point lead deteriorate. By the end of the first half, they ended up with 10 turnovers leading to 16 points scored for the Cs. DeMar has become the engine of this Bulls team as he constantly starts off hot & leads the Bulls in scoring in the first quarter or two. He propelled the Bulls team into another lead but that was silenced by an aggressive Jaylen Brown who scored 12 points, an answer to which the Bulls didn’t have. It was good to see the bench play exceptional; DJJ had a solid game, Caruso as always balled out, Bradley Jr was an effective backup to Vooch & Ayo was phenomenal. The Bulls also struggled to get to the free throw line early in the game & rebounding seemed like a problem (something that we are used to). Rebounding wasn’t that much of an issue later as by the end of the game the Bulls had more boards than the Celtics; the issue is that when the Bulls aren’t rebounding well or being aggressive, they won’t get second chance opportunities—something that was vital for a team that was down 19 points. Honestly, the Bulls looked lost; there was no offense being generated, sloppy turnovers & pretty bad defense. But halfway through the third quarter is where that changed.

The starters owe this game to the bench. The guys came off the bench & gave a much-needed spark in a game that seemed over. All the players that came off the bench had great +/- led by DJJ’s +23 & Caruso’s +21. The Bulls went on an unreal 19-2 run with the help of defensive plays by DJJ & Tony Bradley. Ayo ended the run with a great deep ball suddenly giving the Bulls the lead. Dsonmu played like a veteran, he was playing the PnR phenomenally & had a couple nice looking floaters. His play defensively is underrated too, a longer guard who can guard 1-3 & can play the passing lanes is exactly what the Bulls needed. After the run ended, Zach Lavine suddenly woke up; scoring 13 points in the fourth quarter alone. Zach was looking great off the dribble & kept attacking the heart of the defense by getting into the paint. Although I loved his aggressiveness, I held my breath every time he drove in or drew a foul—he could’ve easily injured his thumb more than it is. Lonzo played great defense on Tatum & DeMar stepped up in the fourth as well as he scored 10 points during clutch time, leading to his scoring total to a game high 37 points. Outscoring the Celtics 39-11 in the fourth quarter led to a very gutsy, hard-fought win against an Eastern Conference playoff team. Shoutout Billy Donovan for the adjustments & the bench for some phenomenal play.

The Chicago Bulls are a good team & they showed it. This was another game that the Bulls would’ve lost last year & probably wouldn’t even try to claw their way back in. They were able to find their identity again & amp up both their offense & defense. It’s great to see DDR play exceptional basketball & silence all the executives & analysts that called him the worst signing this offseason—I just hope he sustains this play. The Bulls also need to learn not to take their foot of the pedal & not lose their identity; all games are winnable for the Bulls & they should stay confident in their team. The Bulls take on the Philadelphia 76ers tonight, a team they haven’t beaten since March of 2019—a game I was present at. The Sixers have their own issues right now with the whole Ben Simmons situation & Tobias Harris getting COVID. The Sixers also rested Embiid their last game so the expectation is that he will play on healthy legs tonight. Embiid vs Vucevic is a matchup that I will be watching closely as Vooch has issues with guarding centers that are taller & more offensively talented. Vooch will most likely struggle both offensively & defensively against Embiid but the Bulls should have a good gameplan to slow him down. Having watched a couple Sixer games so far, it seems like Embiid struggles with a double team against the baseline. Another thing to watch for is how they guard both Derozan & Lavine; the Sixers have great defensive talents in Danny Green & Matisse Thybulle & I’m excited to see what matchups Coach Doc Rivers plays. The Bulls will need to be aggressive with the boards & stay locked in offensively. Stay lit, Bulls fans.