With a productive defense and talented scorers, perhaps Zach LaVine wasn’t too far off when he predicted a playoff berth for the Chicago Bulls in 2020.
“Yeah, automatically.” That was Zach LaVine last April in response to a question posed by the Chicago Tribune’s K.C. Johnson regarding the possibility of a playoff berth for a healthy Chicago Bulls team in 2019-20.
Never one to lack confidence, LaVine has doubled down on that sentiment on several more occasions since the original statement. On the heels of a second straight sub-30 win campaign, however, few if any shared the talented 2-guard’s level of optimism.
Of course, the passing of time has a way of changing all of that. Not because the Bulls suddenly surfaced among the NBA’s elite, but because their play coupled with circumstances beyond their control have somehow positioned them to turn LaVine’s prophecy into a reality.
"We compete with some of the best teams in the league. It might not show in our record, but we are right there pretty much every night." - Zach LaVine@SamSmithHoops recaps last night's game:
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) January 3, 2020
Chicago’s offense continues to inexplicably sputter despite talents like LaVine and Lauri Markkanen, but its defense ranks a surprising fifth in rating and was second-best in the month of December.
They allow the fifth-most shots per game in the restricted area, but are somehow a middle-of-the-pack team when it comes to opponents’ efficiency in that range. The Bulls also limit teams to the fewest attempts and rank second in opponents makes per game as well.
It’s been quite the turnaround for a team that placed 25th in defensive efficiency last season, a credit to Jim Boylen’s Tom Thibodeau-like approach that’s seen its share of criticism.
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To make up for one of the worst offenses in the final month of 2019 — 25th in rating and 26th in points per game — Chicago managed to keep pace with the fifth-most 3s per game at the sixth-highest clip.
A big part of the Bulls’ offense has also been the resurgent play of Markkanen.
The third-year forward struggled through the season’s first 20 games — he shot less than 40.0 percent from the field and below 30.0 from distance — but went on to average 17.6 points per game over the next 14 outings on a shooting line of .508/.416/.833.
LaVine has also done his part by averaging over 20 points per game while posting career-highs in 3-point attempts per game and percentage.
A 13-22 record normally has teams thinking about the draft lottery, but such is the state of the lower half of the Eastern Conference these days, where the Bulls are 2½ games back of the eighth-place Orlando Magic.
They received a boost, however unfortunate, in their postseason hopes when Jonathan Isaac, the bright young forward for Orlando, suffered a severe sprain and bone contusion that will keep him out at least the next two months.
Unfortunately, what could be viewed as an opening to nudge its way into the playoff picture comes at a time where Chicago has the second-toughest remaining schedule behind only the Golden State Warriors.
Conversely, the Magic are 15th in remaining strength of schedule while the Charlotte Hornets, who are ninth in the East at 14-23, are three spots behind the Bulls.
If Chicago is to sneak into the postseason for just the second time in five years, it’ll certainly say more about the state of the Eastern Conference than its present roster. And yet, a playoff berth is still a step in the right direction for a sputtering franchise, no matter how it’s earned.
Defense does travel in the NBA. And despite their offensive woes, the Bulls have spread out their offense with six players averaging double figures with an analytics-friendly offense that’s been to their benefit.
They’re a bottom-four team in their percentage of points from mid-range and sixth from beyond the arc.
Markkanen appears to be back on track and perhaps Otto Porter Jr. — whose played nine games all season and won’t be back until around the All-Star break with a left foot injury — can rediscover his play after arriving in Chicago last season.
It wouldn’t be the most convincing of postseason appearances or the most earned, but maybe LaVine knew all that heading into the season. And why maybe the state of the conference was the impetus behind his belief in Chicago’s chances to begin with.