The Chicago Bulls have a third-quarter problem.
This team has never been good in the third quarter. They rank 17th in the league with a minus-2.2 net rating in the third quarter on the season. But amid the upheaval of the roster at the trade deadline, the Bulls lost their ability to beat teams out of the mid-game break. This results in a recurring (and deflating) pattern of competing decently in the first half, then falling apart after halftime.
The Bulls posted a minus-4.9 net rating over the 10 games preceding Sunday’s 105-99 loss to the New York Knicks. That number dropped to minus-14.5 over the prior eight games, the fifth-worst in the entire league. And in Sunday’s loss, they gave up a six-point deficit in the third quarter despite leading the Knicks in the first half.
It’s hard to win when a team consistently digs itself into a hole heading into the fourth quarter. It didn’t help that the Bulls spent much of Sunday’s loss doing their best impression of the Washington Generals. They threw passes into the stands and caromed off their own teammates and missed unguarded dunks. The Bulls committed 17 turnovers in the loss, their sixth straight game of giving up 14 or more turnovers.
And so it didn’t matter that the Bulls regained the lead with less than four minutes remaining. Or that Josh Giddey drew a foul to cut the lead down to three points with 50.9 seconds remaining. The odds were stacked too high — and the Bulls dropped their ninth straight loss, a skid that stretches back to the trade deadline.
Here are three takeaways from the loss.
1. Anfernee Simons is sidelined with a wrist injury.
The injury report is only growing for the Bulls, who played Sunday’s game without guard Anfernee Simons in addition to Jaden Ivey (out two weeks with knee soreness) and Zach Collins (sidelined for the season).
Simons injured his wrist in Saturday’s loss to the Detroit Pistons while attempting to navigate a screen. He underwent initial testing at the arena after the game, but was unable to go through the full slate of testing required to fully assess his injury. He was listed on the injury report with a sprained wrist for Sunday’s game, but Donovan said that diagnosis could change after Simons sees a hand specialist this week.
Without Simons, the Bulls backcourt was limited once again. Josh Giddey and Tre Jones are under 24-minute caps on their playing time due to a pair of hamstring injuries, which meant the Bulls needed to rely on more minutes from Rob Dillingham.
2. Another big problem.
The Bulls also lost center Jalen Smith in the third quarter due to tightness in his right calf. This is a recurring injury for Smith, who has missed five of the last nine games due to varying levels of discomfort in his calf. He logged 12 points and five rebounds in 18 minutes before being ruled out.
The loss of Smith posed another challenge for the Bulls, who are already short-handed in the frontcourt after the loss of Collins. Coach Billy Donovan attempted to create larger lineups out of thin air, starting a double-big look with Guerschon Yabusele to give the Bulls much-needed length. But without Smith, the Bulls simply didn’t have any more length to tap into.
Yabusele and backup center Nick Richards were the only bigs available for the Bulls in the fourth quarter. The pair combined for 20 points and 27 rebounds in the loss.
3. An overpowering spotlight.
The most visible absence in the game was the offensive output of Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis.
The pair struggled to break through the New York defense in an underwhelming scoring performance. Giddey tallied six points and five assists against two turnovers. Buzelis scored 15 points on 3-for-9 shooting from behind the arc but turned the ball over three times.
Minutes restrictions played a part in the problem. Buzelis could not enter the fourth quarter until the clock had run down below the five-minute mark after racking up playing time in the first half. In limited time on the court, neither player found his rhythm.
Buzelis has particularly struggled to carry the burden of the offense in the wake of major trades made at the deadline, a challenge that Donovan has noted as an important growth opportunity for the second-year forward.
“It’s been a lot harder on Matas — and I think in a good way,” Donovan said. “When Coby was here and Ayo was here and (Nikola Vučević) was here, even though we got him into the starting lineup, he’s starting to see the best defenders (now) night in and night out. I think that’s a great opportunity for him to make a jump because he’s starting to learn a lot.”
