Bulls in meltdown mode after another loss to Heat |
CHICAGO - Unless you are a fan of the Chicago Cubs, it is tough being a Chicago sports fan, especially when it comes to the Chicago Bears and Chicago Bulls (5-10). The Bulls are incredibly frustrating this season as they did next to nothing to improve their roster, and the quality of play has shown on the court.
Whether that play comes from the players not gelling together or a coach who has no clue what he is doing, changes need to be made for this team to get back on track and show some form of competitive edge. Looking to close out their homestand against the Miami Heat (9-5) at the United Center, the Bulls also had an opportunity to beat the Heat for a second time in three days, which is no easy feat. Miami went out and showed the Bulls just how tough of a feat that can be as they embarrassed the Bulls on their home floor yet again for the 118-100 win. It doesn't matter what changes Billy Donovan makes to his starting five as this team continues to start slowly, which drives fans up the wall. Granted, this was better than Saturday when the Heat opened the game on a 22-1 run, but once again, the Bulls found themselves struggling out of the gates and trailing by double digits again, 12-2. Chicago did manage to get things going as the quarter went on, closing the cap to 17-15 following an Alex Caruso three, but once again, their lack of an offense was abundantly clear with the Heat leading 33-27 after one. Miami continued to build on their lead in the second and doubled their lead from six to 12 points at the half as the Bulls searched for answers. Some of those answers came in the third when the Bulls played their best quarter of the game, but when you come away even in that quarter, you're not going to make up any ground, which the Bulls didn't before Miami outscored them again by six in the fourth to close out a game where they led start to finish. Anytime you have another lackluster performance like this, it is hard to find any positives to take away, but Coby White and Caruso deserve a ton of credit. If there were two players trying to win on this team, these guys would be it, as their hustle and heart on the floor have been evident, and they have, at the very least, been the only players worth watching this season. White continues to come into his own as a PG, but with a team-high 20 points on 7-11 shooting (4-8 from deep), White had one of his better games of the season. The same can be said about Caruso, who has taken over the Bulls PF spot in the starting lineup despite being just 6-3. All he has done in his three starts is score double figures, which happened again with 13 points on Monday. When you look at how the Bulls season has gone this year, Nikola Vucevic has arguably been their most consistent player, but despite putting up 18 points to back White he had his worst game of the season as he just seemed out of sync. Even with Demar DeRozan and Zach Lavine having efficient nights from the field, neither took many shots as they finished with 15 and 13 in the game. For Lavine, he no longer wants to be a part of this team, has no desire to play for Donovan, and has checked out. Once again, the Bulls were ultimately doomed by their bench as only two players had decent nights, with Patrick Williams coming away with nine points and Ayo Dosunmu adding six. They will need their bench to step up, especially with impending trades on the way. When you look at the other bench, not only do the Heat have a coach who knows how to adjust, but Erik Spolestra is one of the best coaches in the league and continues to get the most out of the players he is given. There is a reason why his teams make the playoffs and tend to make long runs whenever they do. Monday was a classic case of getting the most out of what you are given, as Bam Adebayo and Duncan Robinson led the way for Miami. Regarding Adebayo, he has had a knack for having big games against Chicago with a game-high 23 points and pulling in 11 boards that continued. Robinson has snapped out of a year-long funk and is starting to look like the player who helped the Heat reach the finals during the bubble season. His 22 points were an excellent addition, as were his six triples, as he continues to fill the role that Tyler Herro would have. Along with those two, Jimmy Butler had a pedestrian night, taking a rare back seat to finish with 16 points. Considering that is a down night for him, the Heat needed to get some production off their bench, and that tends to happen from players that no one expects. On this night, Jaime Jaquez Jr took his turn to flip the script as he finished third on the team with 19 points to lead the second unit. The Heat also received 10 points from Josh Richardson and 11 from Kevin Love, as those three outscored the entire Bulls bench, which hasn't been hard to do this season. Chicago will now hit the road for a four-game road trip that starts with Oklahoma City on Wednesday. The Thunder faced the Bulls to open the season and handed them one of their worst defeats of the year.
