Bulls have a lot to prove to themselves after November Boston massacre
Bulls coach Billy Donovan was not real thrilled the last time he faced the Celtics, as he watched the score get run up on his slumping bunch.
Charles Krupa/AP
It’s a game that has meaning.
At least it better have meaning, or the Bulls have a bigger problem than just a mediocre roster when they kick off the second half of the season by hosting the Celtics at the United Center on Thursday.
Rewind to Nov. 28, 2023 — rock bottom for this organization so far this year.
The Bulls were in the midst of a dismal four-game losing streak and arrived in Boston for what proved to be a true massacre.
Because the Celtics were hunting down a quarterfinal spot for the In-Season Tournament, scoring margin was the tiebreaker. That meant kicking sand in the face of a hapless visiting team and doing so with very little regard for hurt feelings.
Not only were Boston players shooting late-game threes already up 20-plus points, but were playing hack-a-Drummond on the defensive end, putting inconsistent free throw shooter Andre Drummond at the line to add to the onslaught.
That not only set DeMar DeRozan off, who had words for the Boston bench, but led to coach Billy Donovan having an on-court discussion with Boston coach Joe Mazzulla.
“For me it was just the fouling, but I also understand the situation (Mazzulla’s) in too,” Donovan said afterward. “He’s got to coach his team and do what’s right, but I think it was putting Andre in a tough spot down 30 points. But listen, this is from the league. This is what the league’s done, making this point differential thing.”
Mazzulla did find Donovan in the hallway after the game and apologized with a handshake, but the wound was open.
Now looking back, maybe it was just what this Bulls team needed.
The Bulls were 5-14 after that loss. They were about to find out that Zach LaVine would be lost for weeks with a right foot injury that eventually cost him the season when he opted for surgery. And statistically they were going in the wrong direction in almost every category that mattered.
Through those first 19 games, the Bulls were 26th in offensive efficiency (108.9), 22nd in defensive efficiency (116), and had a net rating of -7.1. They were also dead last in pace (96.36).
Fast forward to the rematch on Thursday.
The Bulls were 21-15 since the visit to Boston. Over that span the offense was still not where Donovan wanted it — 19th in efficiency (116) — but the defense was 10th with a 114.5 efficiency. The net rating was on the positive side (1.5), and even the pace was up a tick (97.16), which was 28th.
Have the Bulls righted the ship? Not completely, but Donovan’s crew was no longer taking on water.
That’s why this isn’t just a normal late-February regular-season game in what truly are the dog days of an NBA season.
Unfortunately, the Bulls will take the test with a broken No. 2 pencil and a half-used eraser.
The Torrey Craig news was the latest gut-punch to a roster that has seen plenty of time in the training room. Tuesday tests showed that Craig in fact suffered a right knee sprain and would be re-evaluated in two to four weeks.
That means no Craig to go with still no Patrick Williams (left foot bone edema), as the front office is running out of options on the buyout market.
Not exactly ideal for taking on a Celtics team that has an NBA-best 43-12 record and plus-10.1-point differential.
“Quite honestly, there have been certain things where (Williams) felt it,” Donovan told reporters when asked for a Williams update. “I think when this first happened, he was feeling it walking. He’s beyond that right now, but they’re going to be very, very careful in terms of how much they continue to push through and how much they pull back on him.”