Chicago Bulls start slow, and it proves costly
This was a legitimate question after the Chicago Bulls lost to Charlotte 102-96 on Saturday night, ending a four-game home winning streak: Did they lose this one at the start of the game or at the end?
Of course, the answer is both. The Bulls fell behind 12-3 at the start and caught up quickly but struggled to score down the stretch, which has been a familiar problem this season.
"We were right there. A layup, we had two open looks," Derrick Rose said. "We've just got to deal with it. I understand what coach was saying when he said we need to start off right, because I think if we would have started off right, everything would have been different."
Rose had a much better offensive night, compared to his 3-for-17 against Denver on Wednesday. He had 19 points and 5 assists, while hitting 8 of 17 shots. Jimmy Butler led the Bulls with 25 points and found the slow start unacceptable.
"They came out just playing harder than we did as a whole on both ends of the floor," Butler said. "When we're playing like that, we're not a good enough team to play lazy and expect ourselves to just outscore people.
"To tell the truth, that's on the starters. It's on the guards, myself and Derrick, for allowing it to happen. The bench did their job; they came in high energy and got us back into this game. So it's on us, the starting five, to go out there and start with energy."
The score was tied at 88, 91 and 94, but the Bulls couldn't convert some good looks when it counted. Rose missed a couple of driving attempts, Pau Gasol couldn't knock down a jumper, and a couple of 3-pointers barely missed.
A pair of free throws by Charlotte center Cody Zeller with 1:01 on the clock were the go-ahead points. After Butler's 3-point attempt rattled out, Hornets guard Kemba Walker dropped in a jumper to make it 98-94 with 28.9 seconds remaining.
For the second straight game, Doug McDermott got the call in the fourth quarter. He hit a tying 3-pointer with 2:10 left. He got another good look just before Zeller's free throws, but that one didn't drop.
"I thought mine was good. I thought Jimmy's was good," McDermott said. "I think we would have, could have closed the game there almost, just with the momentum and the crowd, but unfortunately those didn't go in."
Bad offense in the final six minutes has been a more frequent problem for the Bulls than slow starts. McDermott's outside shooting ability could be a cure to the late-game slumps. It almost worked against the Hornets.
"I feel like I'm getting better," McDermott said. "I feel like I'm moving a lot better out there. It's all about reps. I didn't get a lot of reps last year (as a rookie). Just being able to be out there this year a little bit more in crunchtime situations has made me better and I'm going to continue to improve."
The Bulls (11-6) had been tough to beat at home but dropped to 7-2 at the United Center this season. They're well within striking distance of the top spot in a tightly-bunched Eastern Conference, with plenty of room for improvement.
"I think defensively, we just weren't there tonight," Rose said. "Defense, not getting back in transition, backdoor plays, a couple were my fault. It's fixable, though, it's very fixable. Execution and communication."
Nikola Mirotic was in the starting lineup after suffering a concussion Wednesday. He scored 7 points but missed 2 important free throws with 2:44 remaining.
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