Game 5 Recap: Melts Into The Sea, Eventually

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Bulls 91, Thunder 97

The Bulls stared a 2-2 Harden-less Thunder team looking to avoid a sub-.500 record. Everything in the early stages went according to the ironclad plan detailed in the game preview; the Thunder were cold from outside, missing long 2 after long 2, and that allowed the Bulls to get out in transition. Partially on the back of a hot start from Rip Hamilton, the Bulls jumped out to a 12-4 lead while the Thunder shot 2/12 from the field. 

Things began to fall apart a bit as the first quarter ended and the second began. Kirk Hinrich did his best Mobb Deep impression, looking like quite the Shook One after a crossover from Westbrook led to an easy layup. Ibaka hit a corner three, which is a pretty scary concept if he can hit that with even semi-regularity. The Bulls got beat on their second backdoor cut of the opening quarter, this time with Collison hitting Durant for the dunk. 

A turnover on the Bulls' final possession of the quarter lead to a Durant dunk in the open floor with 0.7 seconds left. The two teams entered the second tied at 24. 

Things continued to trend in the negative direction in the early stages of the second. After the Bulls had started 10/15 from the field, they then rattled off a stretch of 1/8. The Bulls were also somewhat careless with the ball, turning it over multiple times in the opening minutes of the period. Kevin Martin also continued to show the scoring prowess he has shown in the first four games of his Thunder career, completing an and 1 opportunity after a nice drive past Jimmy Butler for a nice 14-footer. 

The Bulls found themselves down 26-33 after having been up by eight earlier in the game. Fortunately, the Bulls picked it up in the second half of the second quarter by, you guessed it, converting in transition and on second chance opportunities. Kirk Hinrich continues to be, to my surprise at least, kind of a magician on the break, knowing exactly when to hit guys on the wings or in the lane. He even hit a three after Boozer sneakily picked up an offensive board that made its way to the 3-point line before the nearby Thunder player could grab it. At that point, it was 40 all and the Bulls were back in business. 

Hinrich then delivered a beautiful pass to a charging Luol Deng on the break, who maneuvered his way in the air to finish and convert an and 1 opportunity at the line. 

It was a sloppy quarter at times for the Bulls, and not a particularly good one for Boozer, who turned it over at least once and took a bad shot on the last possession. Unfortunately, the Thunder rattled off a 6-0 run to end the half, taking a 48-47 lead into the intermission. 

Halftime stats: 

Thunder: 

• Durant: 5/9, 10 points
• Westbrook: 2/10, 8 assists (!), 4 points
• Serge Ibaka: 6/11, 15 points
• Team: 50% from the field, 10 turnovers, 5 offensive boards

Bulls: 

• Boozer: 2/8, 7 points, 2 turnovers
• Deng: 6/11, 13 points 
• Hamilton: 3/5, 8 points, 3 turnovers
• Team: 44% from the field, 10 turnovers, 8 offensive boards 

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The Bulls managed a 9-0 run early in the third to make the score 59-55. Durant and Westbrook pitched in the first three buckets of the half for the Thunder, however, resulting in a bit of concern as to whether or not they would attempt to break the game open on their own in the third period. On the bright side, the Thunder then went scoreless for the next four minutes, allowing the Bulls to creep back into the game and acquire a small lead.

Russell Westbrook took Hinrich on again at the top of the key, completing a spectacular play in the lane for an and 1 opportunity to bring the Thunder within one.

Otherwise, it was once again a sloppy quarter for both teams. The Bulls coughed it up seven times, the Thunder six times in this quarter alone. However, paced by 7 points from Hinrich and 8 from Hamilton, the Bulls entered the fourth with a 72-66 lead off of an 11-5 run.

The Bulls jumped out to a 5-point lead but an 7-0 run coming from the Thunder put the Bulls down 73-75. That's when it became the Luol Deng Show. After a trey, and and 1 off of a 16-footer and a layup, the Bulls were within two with five and a half minutes to go.

With the score then at 85 all, Deng and Hinrich missed two very good looks from downtown on back-to-back possessions, which, as a fan, was a "what could have been" pair of moments.

Westbrook slashed through the lane and finished as the game approached the 2-minute mark. The Bulls then turned it over, but Durant missed badly on the ensuing possession. Hamilton couldn't connect on a solid medium range look. There was less than a minute to go.

Of course, despite not having a transcendent night, the Thunder called Durant's number. He swished a baseline jumper to give the Thunder a 4-point lead. The Bulls would need to score on their next possession.

Luckily, they did, as Hinrich maneuvered around the perimeter before dishing to Gibson, who swished a 15-footer. However, once again, Durant knocked home a Nowitzki-esque jumper over Deng's head to bring the Bulls deficit back to 4.

From the elbow, Gibson found a cutting Noah, who slammed it home with literally nobody anywhere near him. The Bulls then called a timeout to gather themselves/figure out who to foul, what with 15 seconds left in the game.

The Thunder managed to get it in to Durant, who went on to knock both free throws. After a missed Radmonovic trey, it was game over for the Bulls, with only 3.7 seconds to go.

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It was a sloppy game (42 total turnovers between the two teams) marked by intermittent bursts of brilliant showmanship from Luol Deng, Rip Hamilton, Russell Westbrook and, of course, Kevin Durant. Both teams built up solid leads at various points only to see them collapse like sand castles melting into the sea.

Despite lapses along the way, the Bulls managed to battle back to make it a game until the very end. Deng and Hamilton had exceptional nights, and Hinrich was pretty solid as well. Boozer struggled for the third game in a row, and the Bulls only managed 14 bench points (with a 6-man rotation, if you include Radmonovic's brief cameo). For comparison, the Thunder only played 4 subs, who scored a combined 29 points.

That will be something that the Bulls will continue to have to live with post-Bench Mob. With Boozer continuing to struggle and Gibson et al failing to be regular offensive contributors (not that I'm expecting Gibson to be 10+ ppg guy right now like Ibaka), the pressure will continue to fall on the shoulders of guys like Hamilton and Deng to be on from outside.

On the bright side, I will say this: even though the Bulls are "only" 3-2, this was another laudable effort from a squad missing the guy the makes it all go. At some point I'm going to need to stop mentioning this fact, but Rose's absence cannot be understated. Picture a Bulls squad with Hinrich running the transition against the opponent's bench, and this is a team that looks pretty, pretty, pretty good.


The Bulls have another home contest Saturday against an, as of now, 3-1 Minnesota squad. With a game against Boston after that before a 5-game road tour, we'll learn a lot about this team in the coming weeks.

Game #5 Preview, Bulls-Thunder: Block Party

File photo collection: still minimal, lame. 

Chicago Bulls (3-1) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (2-2)

The Opponent

The Bulls got back on the winning track Tuesday night, dispatching a surprisingly solid (so far) Magic team at home. The Bulls rode a second half 15-2 run to a victory, and the Bulls were able to keep the Magic off the offensive boards and J.J. Redick away from another lights out night from beyond the arc. 

On Thursday, the Bulls face a far different challenge in a reformulated Thunder team, of course featuring two of the league's most dynamic scores in Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Even post-Harden, the Thunder still have two guys that can drop 30+ on you in the same game, and that is pretty much a formula for victory a significant percentage of the time. 

At least, one would think. I haven't had the chance to watch the Thunder yet this year, but Scott Brooks' revamped squad has gotten off to a somewhat shaky 2-2 start, going L-W-L-W in games against San Antonio, Portland, Atlanta and Toronto. Either Durant or Westbrook has led the team in scoring in three of those four contests, with new acquisition Kevin Martin's 28 points against Atlanta the lone outlier. 

Otherwise, the Thunder trot out a familiar group of faces. Secretary of Defense and Dismissive Glaring Kendrick Perkins mans the center spot, doing all of the things that Kendrick Perkins does. He's shot 50% from the field in 12 attempts and is pulling in about 6 boards a game. 

Serge Ibaka is another known entity; he exists to block shots and and slam it home on the glass. He's shot 53% from the field thus far and checks in at 2.3 blocks per game. With him, Noah and Gibson on the floor at various times, I guess you could go ahead and call this one a block party (I'll show myself out now). 

Former Bulls Thabo Sefolosha is an oversized two who also exists to play defense. He can score on occasion, however, but he's putting up 6.3 ppg thus far, just about a point higher than his career average. He's also shooting a ridiculous 63% from downtown, although that of course triggers the sample size alarm; he's only taken eight attempts. 

Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant are guys who I hear are pretty good...y/n? Anyway, that's what I heard, FWIW. Again, sample size, but Durant and Westbrook are 19th and 42nd in PER, respectively. Of note, neither has shot the ball particularly well this season. Durant is shooting 45% from the field and 31% from 3, whereas Westbrook is shooting 39% and 27%. I wouldn't necessarily count on this to continue, but perhaps the added burden of "not having James Harden" is requiring some acclimation. 

Otherwise, the Thunder don't boast much in the way of offensive threats. Nick Collison is another Gritasaurus rex, and Hasheem Thabeet, although he has seemingly upped his game a bit, is not much of a threat to do anything other than swat a shot or so a game. 

Kevin Martin is probably the non-Westbrook/Durant guy to watch. Lost in the ceaseless chaos that was the aftermath of the Harden trade is the fact that Martin can play a little ball. He's shot 51% from the field and 62% from 3 in 28 minutes per game. He isn't Harden, but he could become a very solid third option for the Thunder as the season progresses. In fact, he already has been just that. 

Points of Concern 

Obviously, playing the Thunder necessitates some sort of voodoo Bayou sorcery if you're going to get out alive. This means, in a few words, just sort of hoping that Durant and Westbrook settle for the outside shots and miss. Given their aforementioned shooting percentages, that night not be such a bad idea. 

The Bulls have had great success getting out and scoring in transition. Kirk Hinrich has been especially adept at leading the charge, and the Bulls will need to continue to do this if they're going to get into the range of just enough points to grit out a win. However, attempting to do this against a team like the Thunder, triggered by Russell Westbrook, is like literally playing with fire. Playing with fire is in no way a good idea. This was your pro bono life advice for the day. 

Again, whoever ends up matched up on Martin from the Bulls' revamped Not Bench Mob will have to be as vigilant as Batman after yet another Arkham prisoner outbreak. The guy can shoot and the Bulls have had a tendency to leave some shooters open once the game begins to open up. Of course, that is sort of the nature of up tempo basketball, but it is something the Bulls need to have in their minds. 

Unfortunately, attacking the paint from the perimeter is just not something the Bulls really do. Even if the Bulls can--and at this point I'm pretty much just referring to Luol Deng--they'll be met with several towers which also happen to be human beings that play basketball and block shots in exchange for significant amounts of money. 

So, it's a bit of a slippery slope. Telling a team to get out and run and yet, don't run that much, is a bit like telling George Carlin to hey, maybe cut down on the profanity a little bit. 

What Needs To Happen 

• Say it with one more time: FIND. THE. SHOOTER(S). Give up a few long rebounds in a row and the Thunder will be out and running...and that means shooters occupying nice open spots on the wings and in the corners as Westbrook Denards his way up the middle of the floor. 

• Offensive rebounding. Obviously, the Bulls have made hay on the offensive glass for some time now. However, they haven't exactly lit it up in that regard of late (although they didn't really need to on Tuesday, and it wasn't really the biggest reason for Saturday's defeat). Either way, the best way to slow down the Thunder attack is by forcing them to defend and reset their defense. 

• Carlos Boozer shooting tracker hopes for nice things. The Bulls fought their way through a second rough shooting night from Boozer on Tuesday, but the Bulls will need him in top form tonight. Unfortunately, getting off that ridiculous jumper might be a bit tough against a rangy guy like Ibaka (assuming that's who the Thunder put on him). Unlike Perkins, Ibaka can come out and defend a bit, so I'm not really sure what happens when the Bulls go to their version of the drive and kick, also known as "a guard drives and dishes to Boozer near the elbow" as opposed to what most teams do, that being driving and dishing to a so called "three-point shooter."

Useless Prediction Time 

• Westbrook goes off to the tune of 32 points. 
• Durant has a somewhat frigid night from the field. 
• Joakim Noah regularly wins the battle down low against Perkins et al. Not quite double-double worthy, but he'll get into the double digits in points. With Perkins (?) matched up on him, we'll see plenty of opportunities for the patented jumper to the finger gun holster maneuver. 
• That said, I'm not sure the Bulls have enough to keep up. Bulls 95, Thunder 102.