The Bulls remain a contradiction.
A frustrating, hard to figure out from game-to-game, inconsistent contradiction.
Beat the likes of Boston, Milwaukee, and Miami multiple times this season, only to lose to Houston, Orlando, and spit up a 21-point lead to Indiana.
Hear Zach LaVine say that he’s currently playing with a “messed-up” finger on his right hand, but in the same sentence have the two-time All-Star insist that if he’s “out there, I’m healthy.”
Need a player like veteran forward Jae Crowder to be acquired by the Feb. 9 trade deadline, but in all likelihood will stay the path while franchises like the Bucks and Heat push to land the hard-nosed veteran.
All fixable by the time a possible playoff run starts?
Not really, especially when there are a number of layers to the issues surrounding this roster.
“It’s not one player or one thing,” coach Billy Donovan said after the loss to the Pacers on Tuesday. “It’s a multitude of things where we look overwhelmed when the intensity level goes this way. And we have to respond better to that.
“We have a high-character group. They’re good guys, relationships are good. But we have to be able to fight to overcome some of this stuff.”
If this was still 25 games into the season, Donovan’s point would resonate. But the air continues leaking out of the balloon, evident by Game No. 47 against Indiana.
This is the portion of the regular season where you are what you are and the resume is what it is. Unfortunately for the Bulls, that resume has some questionable moments that will inevitably come back to haunt them.
Whether it forces them to have to go the play-in route come April or are at least a road team in the opening playoff series, this roster has made their bed and may be headed for some uncomfortable nights of sleep.
Here’s the five-worst losses of the season for the Bulls:
5. At San Antonio – Oct. 28 – Lost in DeMar DeRozan reaching the 20,000-point milestone, the start of defensive issues both early in games and late was on full display against the Spurs. Keldon Johnson scored 33 points – still his second-highest mark of the season – but allowing a 36-point first quarter and then a 35-point fourth against a team that now has just 14 wins was a sign of things to come.
4. Houston – Dec. 26 – It wasn’t just losing at home to the tanking Rockets, but the timing of it. The Bulls had just come off of a road trip in which they beat Miami, Atlanta, and New York, seemingly fixing the issues that hampered the team. The locker room was supposedly closer after the incident in Minnesota, and the players said they were all on the same page as far as urgency. They obviously weren’t.
3. Oklahoma City – Jan. 13 – Losing to the Thunder in OKC earlier was one thing. After all, the Thunder are athletic and play hard from tip to final horn, which isn’t always a great mix for the Bulls to have to deal with. But with DeRozan sidelined, this was the opportunity for LaVine to show why he received a max contract. He did go 14-of-15 from the free throw line, but was 1-of-8 from three, and 5-of-19 from the field in posting a minus-18 in plus/minus.
2. At Washington – Jan. 11 – With the Wizards missing Bradley Beal, Daniel Gafford and Kristaps Porzingis, LaVine again had a chance to play hero without DeRozan. All the Bulls did was build a 16-point lead, only to squander it late, losing to the undermanned Wizards by three.
1. At Indiana – Jan. 24 – The Pacers were without Tyrese Haliburton and riding a seven-game losing streak. It was headed for eight, with the Bulls building a 21-point lead and seemingly in complete control. That’s not how it finished, however, as Indiana put up 70 points in the second half.
