Chicago Bulls: Inconsistent Play Continues To Be An Issue

The Chicago Bulls continued their inconsistent ways, falling to the Dallas Mavericks 118-111 on the heels of an impressive win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

One of the reasons why Chicago Bulls fans find themselves fuming this season is the inconsistent play they’ve seen from their team. Yes, the Bulls have posted an impressive 4-1 mark against top four teams, including wins over the San Antonio Spurs, Cleveland Cavaliers and a season sweep of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

On the flip side of the coin, however, the Bulls have dropped home games to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Charlotte Hornets and the Brooklyn Nets. And unfortunately for the Bulls, the inconsistent play that has plagued their season thus far reared its ugly head over this weekend.

After an impressive wire-to-wire 105-96 victory against the Thunder on Christmas Day, they followed that up with a 118-111 loss to the Dallas Mavericks just 24 hours later. And what was most disappointing about their latest setback?

Yes, you guessed it. The fact that they jumped out to an early lead only to allow their opponent to come back and steal a game they should have won.

Derrick Rose, who scored 25 points on 12-for-20 shooting from the field to go along with five rebounds and four assists, blamed himself for the loss due to two costly miscues down the stretch.

"“I think I lost this game with that turnover,” Rose told ESPN. “We were down two. Such a critical part in the game and I feel bad. I feel bad. I feel like I lost this game for the team.”"

While Rose’s late-game mistakes certainly didn’t make things easy for the Bulls, they were not the only reasons why the Bulls came up short.

For starters, the Bulls gave up 16 offensive rebounds. And when you give an opponent that many second chance opportunities, the results are not good, something that Rose readily admitted via the Chicago Tribune:

"“How many did they get?” Rose asked. “Sixteen? C’mon, man, we have to find a way to get them balls and limit them to one shot.”"

Secondly, for whatever reason, the Bulls continually lost sight of J.J. Barea. And as a result, the diminutive point guard torched the Bulls’ defense for 26 points on 9-for-14 shooting, including a blistering 7-for-8 from beyond the arc.

The one common theme in some of their wins against the elite teams was defensive intensity. In fact, in those four wins that I mentioned earlier, the Bulls allowed an average of 94.5 points per contest. But that intensity was noticeably absent against the Mavericks, as they converted 16 of their 35 attempts from distance, which equates to a 48.5 conversion rate.

Next: Chicago Bulls: Has Bobby Portis Earned More Playing Time?

That being said, regardless of how well the Bulls play from time to time, if they are unable to find a way to be consistent at both ends of the floor every night, they will continue to be their biggest obstacle during a season in which they felt they were legitimate title contenders.