The Bulls left Boston with their fourth straight loss, a 125-111 defeat on the first NBA Cup Friday of the season, but the game wasn’t a total write-off. The opening half was a mess. The second half offered at least a few reasons to keep watching.
Boston blew the game open early and never really let Chicago settle in. The Celtics were slicing to the rim for easy looks right from the start, and before long the scoreboard had turned ugly. Chicago trailed 44-25 after one quarter and was staring at a 78-49 deficit by halftime.
That first half was brutal in every direction. Boston’s 78 points were the second-most any team has scored in a first half this season, and the Celtics did it while shooting 63% from the field.
They also beat the Bulls 38-20 in points in the paint and 38-15 in bench points. Payton Pritchard needs to give us a break.
Chicago didn’t help itself with the ball. The Bulls coughed it up 13 times before halftime, and while they settled down enough to finish with 16 turnovers, the damage was already done. That kind of early giveaway spree is a hard problem to solve against a team like Boston.
The shooting numbers were rough too. After looking sharper against the Knicks on Wednesday, when they shot 48% from the field and 43% from three, the Bulls slid right back into the kind of offensive night that has dogged them early this season. They finished 35-for-92 overall and 15-for-50 from deep.
That three-point profile is becoming a real storyline. Chicago is dead last in the NBA in three-point percentage while taking the fourth-most threes per game.
The pace helps explain the volume - the Bulls lead the league in possessions per game - but they’re still only middle of the pack in field goal attempts overall, which means those threes are taking up a huge slice of the offense. It’s early, so there’s no need to panic, but the roster doesn’t exactly overflow with proven shooters, and the cold stretch is worth tracking.
Chicago also sits second-to-last in field goal percentage.
One area that continues to travel with this team is the free throw line. The Bulls lead the NBA in both free throw attempts per game and free throws made per game, and that showed up again against Boston.
They got to the stripe 40 times, made 25, and finished well below their season rate of 78%, but the ability to draw fouls may wind up being a steady part of their identity. With Norman Powell’s foul-drawing and a roster full of downhill drivers, some crafty and some bouncy, Chicago should keep living there if the outside shot stays shaky.
And then there was Caleb Wilson, who keeps making it impossible not to talk about him.
Wilson went 6-for-11 from three and kept doing the kind of things that make him look far beyond a rookie. He added two blocks and a steal, giving him at least one of each in all six games to start his NBA career. He grabbed five rebounds, dished four assists, and showed more than enough comfort as a passer in transition and as a shot creator in isolation.
He also brought the kind of edge that sticks with you. Wilson stripped Paul George, sprinted after the loose ball, dove for it, slid across the sideline, got back to his feet before the referee could award Boston possession, and immediately started clapping and talking to his teammates. He was 20 years old and acting like the loudest voice on the floor.
All of that happened with the Bulls down 22.
At least Chicago showed some backbone after the break. The Bulls outscored Boston by 15 points the rest of the way, which doesn’t erase the damage from the first half but does say something about the response. Monday’s road game against the new-look 76ers will be a tough one, but it gives Chicago another chance to keep building.
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Bulls Have A Growing Problem Even Fans Can See
The Bulls walked into TD Garden needing a steadier defensive showing in NBA Cup group play and instead got pushed around early by Boston in a 125-111 loss. Payton Pritchard poured in 30 points and Jayson Tatum added 26 as the Celtics built big margins before Chicago could settle in, leaving the Bulls to chase the game for most of the night.
There were a few bright spots for Chicago, with rookie Caleb Wilson leading the way with 23 points, but the bigger issue was hard to ignore. The Bulls shot 38 percent from the field and never found enough resistance on the other end, a familiar combination that has started to feel less like a one-night problem and more like a pattern the team has to confront. [Read more 🡒]
Bulls Locker Room Frustration Just Put This Team's Identity On Notice
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The concern is not just about one bad stretch, either. Around the league, the contrast is hard to ignore as teams find ways to steady themselves through adversity, whether it is Paul Reed stepping into a bigger frontcourt role in Detroit or other clubs using the G League to help injured players work back toward form. For Chicago, the bigger question is whether this kind of internal dissatisfaction turns into a reset or just another reminder that the standard has to be higher. [Read more 🡒]