They were expected tonight for their last game of the season at home. They had to recover, in order to reassure their staff and their public. Instead of that ? The Bulls punctuated the worst turn of their season at the worst possible time: 133 – 117 defeat against the Hornets, the 4th in a row in Chicago. Dirty atmosphere in the Windy City…
The image hurt, and at the same time how not to understand them.
Half-time buzzer, Coby White returns his three-point shot. Can we imagine a delirious public celebrating this beautiful shot, in order to cement a beautiful collective passage? Absolutely not. With this shot, the Chicago guard allows his team to reduce the gap from 31 to 28 points. Yes yes, the Bulls led by 28 points at halftime by Charlotte. And instead of sticking together and getting motivated? The players return to the dressing room, their gaze pointed towards the ground, while the commentators of NBC Sports Chicago underline the boos that run through the United Center. All that, icing on the cake, while the prod of local television displays a banner that indicates that the Bulls have just eaten their biggest total of points of the season in one half. The Hornets lead 79 to 51, we are on one of the saddest images of this end of the season.
First of all, let’s give credit where credit is due, the Hornets were fantastic in the first half. Following a simply indecent LaMelo Ball (5/5 from three-pointers, each more brilliant improvisation than the other), the team led by James Borrego was on a huge cloud. All the shots returned, including the first eleven of the match for a perfect 11/11 entry, and the bench brought a production just as lethal as that of the five major. Basically, the Hornets were untouchable. But was it against a great Chicago defense? Certainly not. And even though a few big contested shots came in, no member of the Bulls seemed to want to bang their fists on the table. Nobody, at this precise moment, wanting to stop the bleeding. There was something really frustrating, even sad, in seeing this Chicago game from the context preceding the meeting. It’s not like it’s mid-January and Nikola Vucevic’s teammates are coming off a winning streak. No, quite the contrary. The Bulls had just taken, consecutively and at home, rate by the Heat (127-109), the Bucks (127-106) and the Celtics (117-94). It was therefore the least we could do to wait for a global, collective effort, at least defensively, a few days before the Playoffs. Unfortunately, what Zach LaVine and company offered on Friday sounded more like a job abandonment than anything.
So maybe it was a pragmatic achievement, to finish 6th in the Eastern Conference no matter what. Yes, it’s true, this meeting did not have a huge interest in the standings since Toronto was certainly going to do the job against the Rockets, which they did. Cleveland and Brooklyn unable to catch the Bulls, spot 6 was almost locked. But how not to shake your head when you see the lack of desire to right the ship? Even in encounters that “count less,” it’s essential to change the current dynamic if it’s atrocious. And even in games that “count less”, it is essential to approach the Playoffs with a positive momentum. Just look at the Heat, guaranteed to finish 1st in the Eastern Conference, who still showed up on time this Friday night against Atlanta and did the job at home. Maybe they didn’t need it, but Tyler Herro and his associates did what they had to do: build momentum, and enjoy the week with a purposeful posture. Chicago had a lot more reason to pull over, and they didn’t. Worse, they got beaten up and left quite a few observers fearing the worst. That is to say, to point out that the mental level of the group is such that currently anyone can land at the Bulls, stick a big run, and the house of cards will collapse. Now that 6th place is locked in, Billy Donovan’s men will wait patiently and find out who their opponent in the first round of the Playoffs will be. Rather the Bucks? The Celtics? Or the Sixers? Send whoever you want, but if we have to rely on the current Bulls to predict the series, it will be quick and straightforward. Pie hour has come.
Chicago ends its regular season with a loose head and dragging feet. More defeats against the greats of the League, mixtapes suffered at home against more determined opponents, difficult to know which Bulls will show up in the Playoffs. 8 days ago to make things clear, it’s now or a big sweep could happen in Illinois.