Bulls defense disappears in ugly loss at Charlotte
Heading into Tuesday's game at Charlotte, the Chicago Bulls had been pretty good defensively. They ranked sixth in the NBA in both points allowed and defensive field-goal percentage and led the league in opponents' 3-point percentage.
It all went wrong against a Hornets team hungry to get in the win column after an 0-3 start. Charlotte shot the lights out and trounced the Bulls from start to finish, winning 130-105 at Time Warner Cable Arena.
“It was complete domination from the tip,” coach Fred Hoiberg told reporters after the contest. “They just had their way with us. We didn't have any fight, no resolve. We didn't try to go back at them. We just kind of accepted it tonight.”
This performance was actually reminiscent of ex-coach Tom Thibodeau's first days on the job. In the fourth game of the 2010-11 season, the Bulls lost at home to the New York Knicks 120-112 after giving up 70 points in the first half.
That turned out to be the Bulls' worst defensive effort during Thibodeau's first two seasons. The most points given up in regulation time during Thibodeau's tenure was 128 at Denver in 2012-13.
This was just one of those nights Tuesday. The Bulls fell behind 37-20 after one quarter, then midway through the second, Charlotte used a 10-0 run to stretch the lead to 26 points.
Even when the Bulls finally knocked the deficit below 20 points late in the third quarter, the Hornets had an answer. Jeremy Lin banked in a 3-pointer to make it 99-77 after three quarters. Then Charlotte opened the fourth with another 10-0 run and suddenly the lead was 33.
“There's nights that ball is not going to go in the basket. You've got to fight,” Hoiberg said. “They scored over 30 every quarter. That's disappointing. Everybody seemed like they were on an island, offense and defense. It wasn't a good night.
“Nobody had each others' back. We didn't make extra passes. They outrebounded us by 19. You can go all the way down the line. It just wasn't there. We've been pretty solid on that end of the floor. They just beat us in all areas tonight.”
There were a few bright spots. Jimmy Butler led the Bulls with 26 points, hitting 10 of 16 shots from the field. Rookie forward Bobby Portis finally made his NBA debut and scored 10 points in 10 minutes.
Offense wasn't a problem for the Bulls. They shot just below 50 percent overall and knocked down 14 of 30 attempts from 3-point range. Derrick Rose (4 points) and Nikola Mirotic (5 points) had quiet nights.
Charlotte put seven players in double figures, led by former Oklahoma City shooting guard Jeremy Lamb with 20 points, followed by another Hornets newcomer, ex-Portland forward Nicholas Batum with 18.
Speaking of the Thunder, that's the Bulls' next opponent, Thursday at the United Center. Another defensive effort like this one and OKC might score 200 points.
“We'll see what we're made of,” Hoiberg said. “We've got the most powerful offensive team in the league coming in on Thursday.
“We've got bounce back with a great practice. You have to get out there just to flush the stink of this one. You've got to flush it down the toilet and hopefully move on with a better effort.”
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