ORLANDO, Fla. — The tank is empty.
The Chicago Bulls are long past running on fumes. For weeks they’ve been cruising downhill while averting their eyes from the gauge sitting on “E,” hoping a miracle would allow them to make it one more block, one more exit before clunking to a standstill.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThere isn’t another choice. The Bulls are down to three members of their typical starting lineup. By the end of Monday’s 125-120 loss to the Orlando Magic, their injury report listed seven absences. But the NBA schedule doesn’t stop — or slow — for any team. What they have simply will have to do.
Against the Magic, that was enough for three quarters — and nothing more.
The Bulls did all they could. They built a 15-point lead on sharpshooting from Ayo Dosunmu and dogged finishing from Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey. When Kevin Huerter went to the locker room with an adductor injury six minutes into his outing as a starter, Tre Jones filled in eagerly.
But in the final two minutes of the third quarter, the engine started to choke.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIt was the pressure that did it. The Magic were unrelenting on the boards, at the perimeter and in the open court. They poked and prodded at the ball, baiting the Bulls into technical fouls and frustrated errors as the lead bled away. The lead changed five times in the fourth quarter as Orlando racked up 40 points to close the game at a dead sprint.
“It sucks,” center Nikola Vučević said. “I don’t know exactly the reasons why we have so many injuries, but it’s frustrating to see guys go down. You feel for them. You know how much work they put in, how much time they put into their bodies to be ready to play, and when it happens like that it’s frustrating.
“But it is what it is. We have to move on.”
The Bulls landed in Orlando with an extensive injury report and played Monday without Coby White (left calf strain), Isaac Okoro (back), Jalen Smith (hamstring) and Dalen Terry (calf strain). They suffered another loss when Huerter was ruled out.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementCenter Zach Collins is working his way back from a wrist fracture but hasn’t been cleared to play. That leaves the Bulls with only five members of their preferred 10-man rotation. To add insult, rookie Noa Essengue is sidelined with a shoulder injury, preventing the Bulls from finding even a slim silver lining from their current situation.
Here are three takeaways from the loss.
1. Losing the boardsAs the ball arced downward toward the rim midway through the second quarter, Desmond Bane lowered his shoulder and pushed. Bane wasn’t subtle about it. He pressed both hands flat against Giddey’s torso, knocking into the taller Bulls guard with his shoulder before extending his arm.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIt took only two bumps for Bane to displace Giddey off the low block — where he should have held superior positioning to secure the ricocheting ball — and knock him against the baseline. Giddey stood a full arm’s length away when Bane grabbed the rebound, giving the Magic guard plenty of room to toss in a simple layup.
These types of miniature errors in boxing out hounded the Bulls, who gave up 12 offensive rebounds. They were fortunate Orlando converted them into only 15 second-chance points.
But more than half of those points occurred in the fourth quarter as the Bulls failed to maintain the energy of the first half, giving up five offensive rebounds in the fourth. A series of second-chance opportunities — including a spray-out 3 by Bane off consecutive offensive rebounds and a put-back dunk by Wendell Carter Jr. — served as the final nails in the loss.
Coach Billy Donovan felt the Bulls gave better effort on the defensive boards than in previous games, but that didn’t match the results in the fourth quarter.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I thought we did a good job physically because they’re a big, strong, physical team,” Donovan said. “I felt like we were finding a way to manufacture enough points, but those rebounds could have really helped us build a lead out a little bit. In particular, that stretch there hurt us.”
2. Failure to launchSomewhere between takeoff and landing at the rim, the Bulls often seem to run out of steam. They take the most attempts inside the restricted area (32.8 per game) of any team in the league. But once they reach the rim, the Bulls struggle to capitalize. Their 60.4% shooting percentage in the restricted area is the second-worst in the league.
One key source of inefficiency is allowing opponents to affect the shot. Teams average 6.1 blocks per game against the Bulls, and that number rose to 6.6 per game in November, the highest in the league. The trend continued against the Magic, who tallied 11 blocks, including four by Goga Bitadze.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThese stops were sudden and equal-opportunity. Jalen Suggs scooped away a Jones attempt at a reverse layup. Bitadze slapped the ball off the backboard in transition. Jonathan Isaac tailed Buzelis and extended one long arm up, up and over the smaller forward to poke away his fadeaway attempt.
The Bulls shot 65.5% inside the restricted area. Nine of their 10 misses were blocked shots.
3. Big minutes for Lachlan OlbrichThe injury pileup translated into significant minutes for two-way players Lachlan Olbrich and Emanuel Miller, who both made their first appearances in the first quarter.
Olbrich, a second-round draft pick, is an unproven option in the frontcourt for the Bulls, who planned to have the rookie spend most, if not all, of his debut season with Windy City in the G League. Instead, Olbrich was thrust into the secondary rotation to add needed size for the Bulls, playing a total of 12 minutes.
Although Olbrich didn’t score, his production on the boards (four rebounds) and as a physical antagonist to the bullying Magic was a helpful addition off the bench.
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