The Chicago Bulls have made a lot of noise this season after the pickup of DeMar DeRozan and rightfully so. Despite the long list of injuries they suffered throughout the season, the Bulls were the 1 seed in the Eastern Conference at one point in time. But as time passed, that greatness seemed to be because the competition the Bulls went against wasn’t good enough.
The Chicago Bulls are now 2-17 against teams that have a 0.600 winning percentage after their loss to the Phoenix Suns today. The Bulls just can’t seem to win when it is against tough competition. They are suffering from injuries to Lonzo Ball and Patrick Williams but not being able to win more than 2 games against the top teams is unacceptable.
Let us give credit where credit is due though. DeMar DeRozan has been amazing this season. After revitalizing his career in Chicago, the mid-range master almost broke the record that Michael Jordan had made for the Bulls. He had 8 consecutive 35+ points this season and broke Wilt Chamberlain’s record for most 35 point games with 50%+ efficiency.
Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. While DeRozan and Zach Lavine are playing great for the Bulls, the team seems to be lacking a spark that can take them over the edge. It is understandable though, that the team needs some time to get familiar with each other and develop chemistry. What we tend to forget is the fact that DeRozan just joined the team and they haven’t played too many games at full strength.
The Chicago Bulls have fallen to the 5 seed right now and have lost home-court advantage in the Playoffs. While the gap between them and the Boston Celtics (4 seed) isn’t too large, it will be extremely difficult to get more wins than the hottest team in the NBA right now. Hopefully, the Bulls figure it out and who knows maybe we can go back to the glory days when the Bulls dominated the NBA.
