The Chicago Bulls are a .500 team through 42 games. Here’s a quick look at the main takeaways from the first half of the 2016-17 season.
The Chicago Bulls defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 108-104 on Sunday night, moving them back to the .500 mark. Their victory over Memphis was impressive for two reasons.
First, second-leading scorer Dwyane Wade was out of the lineup due to a scheduled day off. Secondly, Jimmy Butler had a sub-par game with 16 points on just 6-for-14 shooting from the field and a very uncharacteristic 1-for-5 effort from the charity stripe.
With the Bulls having a difficult time putting the ball in the basket in the early going, they turned to none other than Doug McDermott, who torched the Grizzlies’ defense for a career-best 31 points, including 20 in the second quarter.
This was the shot in the arm the Bulls needed considering the fact that McDermott scored a combined total of 21 points in his previous four outings. Despite getting off to a surprising 3-0 start, the Bulls have been hovering right around the .500 mark ever since.
Related Story: 25 Best Players to Play for the Chicago Bulls
Through their first 42 games of the season, a number of narratives have emerged during that time. Today, we will take a closer look at a few of them.