How did Bulls go from scraping bottom to beating NBA's best?
The Bulls hit the trampoline hard this week. After dropping four in a row, they bounced back with not just two wins, but they beat the two best teams in the NBA, Boston and Milwaukee.
Four days ago, this team seemed to be in a bad place. The schedule slowed down, they had plenty of practice time and were getting healthier, but turned in some inexplicably bad performances.
Just as quickly, it all turned around. They were in control from start to finish against Boston on Monday. Against the Bucks, they finished off a close game by hitting 3 straight 3-pointers in the final 75 seconds - two from Coby White and one by Nikola Vucevic.
Was this a case of the Bulls needing to scrape bottom in order to get themselves in the right mindset?
"Sometimes you've just got to go through what need to go through to understand whatever it is you need to understand, if that makes sense," DeMar DeRozan said after the game in Milwaukee. "And I think that's just where we're at."
DeRozan was a catalyst, as usual. He matched Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo with 36 points and assisted on the Bulls' last two 3-point baskets.
"We had some down moments, losing games in a row, dropping games we feel like we should have won, close games, getting our butt whooped at home," he said. "We kind of went through so many emotions already, 20 games into a season.
"Sometimes that's beneficial. You've got to soak in that hurt and kind of generate that into being competitors and I think that's where we're at right now."
The 3-point shooting stood out the most in the past two games. They made 14 of 29 against Boston, then cranked it up to 18-for-42 in Milwaukee. The Bulls are now 6-0 when shooting 40% of better from 3-point land.
The 42 3-point attempts were the most by the Bulls over the last two seasons, and the number ranks top 10 in franchise history. It's been a group effort, with six different players hitting multiple 3s against the Bucks.
But a lot of little things are settling into place. The defensive effort and chemistry has improved. Forward Patrick Williams is getting more comfortable and consistent. The Bulls are starting to get Vucevic more paint touches. Over the past two games, both Williams and Vucevic have been above 70% in effective field-goal percentage.
Ayo Dosunmu has been good defensively and video of him blocking Bucks' Grayson's Allen layup attempt has been popular on Bulls Twitter. On Wednesday, coach Billy Donovan had a hunch they'd need some offense, and went with White instead of Dosunmu down the stretch.
"Losing the games we lost, we've been holding each other accountable," DeRozan said in Milwaukee. "Everybody's been speaking up whenever we get a chance - film sessions, practice - we've been on each other, we've been picking it up. I think we've just been showing how bad we want it, instead of just talking about it."
The Bulls aren't out of the woods yet. They're still just 8-10 overall and will play their next five games on the road out West.
Every step of this road trip will be challenging. The Bulls face three of the five best teams in the West (Phoenix, Utah and Sacramento). Friday's opponent, Oklahoma City, has been a better than expected, while guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has earned MVP attention.
Golden State might be underachieving, but is 8-1 at home. The Suns are 9-1 at home. The Kings are currently the hottest team in the West, going 8-2 in their last 10.
"This is how consistent we've got to be," DeRozan added. "Once we figure it out, we get it to click ... being locked in, these are results we can get. But we've got to come ready every single game. These last two games against the top two teams in the NBA shows we can do it."
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