Don’t you love it when the Chicago Bulls come out to a hot start? I can imagine the game is much easier when you don’t start slow & dig yourself a hole early in a game. Thanks to a very balanced offensive attack, the Bulls secured yet another win against a playoff team—something analysts said we’d have difficult doing. Although the Dallas Mavericks came into the game averaging roughly 103 points per game, they still are a very talented offensive team & an excellent three-point team; having them score 107 points isn’t too bad—especially for a team that was deemed as defensively deficient. With excellent defense & practically everyone on the team scoring, the Bulls were able to play a strong game, start to finish. The Bulls looked showtime & it was a very entertaining game, to say the least.
The Chicago Bulls came out on fire in the first quarter thanks to Lonzo Ball hitting four threes & Nikola Vučević scoring 9 points. They played great defense but may have been a little too aggressive as they put the Mavs in the bonus pretty early in the quarter. They defended Luka pretty well as he struggled throughout the game. During the second quarter, Jason Kidd had his team play a zone defense which seemed to trouble the Bulls; the Mavs went on a little run & kept themselves in the game. They had trouble guarding Jalen Brunson, who is playing exceptional off the bench, but that was fine as others were fairly limited. The Bulls were able to beat the zone by doing what they do best, get in transition. Thanks to collective efforts from everyone on the team, the Bulls ended the first half up 61-54.
The third quarter is where the Bulls practically sealed the game, which is a major relief since they tend to get going more during the fourth quarter. The beginning of the third quarter, the Mavericks seemed to stick around but then Alex Caruso stole the show, quite literally. Caruso had 6 steals in the game, tying his career-high. The day after he spoke on JJ Redicks podcast about the Lakers lowballing him during the offseason, Caruso looked like he was out to prove something. He scored 11 points in the third quarter with a couple threes & tough defense. This is something that I have been waiting to see; Caruso is a great defender & we all know that but he’s also talented offensively—which he finally showed. With a bench struggling to score on most nights, it was nice to see Caruso lead the charge both on the offensive & defensive end; now this gets me even more excited because the return of Coby White is nearby. Both of those players off the bench will provide a spark that the Chicago Bulls are in dire need of. The fourth quarter was a little slow but Zach did his thing, ending the night with a smooth 23 points. On a night where DeMar had an atypical shooting night, it was nice to see everyone else step in & play a well-balanced game. The play of the game & maybe even the NBA’s play of the night was towards the end of the game when Caruso stole the ball & gave it to Lonzo who immediately looked up & threw an absolute dart to Zach LaVine who capped it off with beautiful 360 dunk. Just a minute later, Caruso stole the ball again & ran down the floor to throw up an alley-oop to DDR. Showtime Bulls, baby.
It was a great & fun win but the Bulls have to get even more serious as they start a 5-game west coast road trip, all against elite teams. They start off their trip Friday night against the league best, Golden State Warriors. Ranked first in points per game, second in rebounds per game, first in assists per game & second in opponent’s points per game—the Warriors are a force to be reckoned with this season. They have started off hot, a little thanks to their schedule, but mostly by their great team play. They look like the 15-16 Warriors. With the unfortunate news of Nikola getting COVID & placed in health & safety protocols, the Bulls lose both size & scoring during this road trip—something they absolutely needed. The Chicago Bulls called up Marko Simonovic from the Windy City Bulls to help with that, but it’ll still be difficult to replace Vooch. Guarding Steph, who looks like this year's MVP, is always a mission but with Caruso & Ball leading the charge, they should be able to contain him, hopefully. The player I’m more concerned about is Jordan Poole who is absolutely balling this season as the new splash brother. The Bulls will once again need to start off hot, have balanced scoring & play excellent defense in order to win. This one might be ugly, Bulls fans.
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