Bulls @ Kings - 9pm. Bulls West Coast Roadtrip

[ThisGuyFawkes]

That was a fun game to watch. I'm glad I stayed up for it.

I really love the way Coby and Ayo have improved over their careers. Are they our future at the guard position? Probably not, but they'll play a big part in it (hopefully for a long time). We really just need to figure out the forward and center positions lol.

[kodo]

Watch on YouTube

Nice recap for those of us who missed this late one.

Why was Sabonis not playing? Did he foul out? Lyles was terrible at center. Couldn't guard Derozan. Couldn't defend the rim against Coby. Couldn't secure a defensive rebound that would have given Sac a good shot to tie/win the game with 15 seconds.

[erlim]

The season has been horrible and horribly boring, but I have to admit, it's a bit endearing to see the roster go hard to get wins in situations like these. I don't know how the players motivate themselves when they are in such a thankless position, likely unable to get past the play-in, having an understanding that an important player in Zach Lavine is finished with the team and Lonzo Ball have his career ended, and having a FO that overtly doesn't care and has assembled a roster where 4 out of the top 5 active players all play SG and there are NO PFs.

[Mbrahv0528]

11 total bench points tonight from 3 players.

6 - Julian Phillips
4 - Drummond
1 - Bitim

Wild

They’re playing with 6 NBA rotation quality players right now. It’s kinda impressive to be winning games with no all star talent and only 6 guys worthy of rotation minutes.

Both Coby and Demar are most definitely all star talents.

Sent from my SM-S918U using RealGM mobile app

[FriedRise]

Not that our schedule is easy but the Pacers next 5 is against Dallas, Minnesota, Orlando, OKC, and us and they're currenly 5ish games ahead of us for the 8th seed.

Miami plays Detroit and Washington 4 times in their next 7 so they're not gonna slip. Orlando has an easy next 5 too.

I keep waiting for Philly to freefall in the standings and it's just not happening.

We apparently have the 7th easiest remaining schedule in the league, which is crazy because we just started our murderer's row West Coast trip. We've been playing .500 ball since New Year, so unless they pull off another serious run (seems doubtful with tired legs + injuries), this is likely the pace they'll stay on the rest of the year.

With 21 games remaining, that's good for 10 more wins, which should put us at 39-43. Maybe they take 1 more game so we can get to 40-42 and let continuity take a W!

I do think the 9th seed is ours to lose because I don't see either Brooklyn or Atlanta catching up. For the teams above us, they're all pretty bunched up with only 2.5 games separating the 4th and 8th seed, so I expect a ton of movement in the next few weeks. I think either the Knicks or Philly will drop into the play-in range, but how far they go will depend on how soon they get their key guys back. I believe Embiid already started his ramp-up period, and looks like Brunson avoided a serious injury.

[drosestruts]

Not that our schedule is easy but the Pacers next 5 is against Dallas, Minnesota, Orlando, OKC, and us and they're currenly 5ish games ahead of us for the 8th seed.

Miami plays Detroit and Washington 4 times in their next 7 so they're not gonna slip. Orlando has an easy next 5 too.

I keep waiting for Philly to freefall in the standings and it's just not happening.

We apparently have the 7th easiest remaining schedule in the league, which is crazy because we just started our murderer's row West Coast trip. We've been playing .500 ball since New Year, so unless they pull off another serious run (seems doubtful with tired legs + injuries), this is likely the pace they'll stay on the rest of the year.

With 21 games remaining, that's good for 10 more wins, which should put us at 39-43. Maybe they take 1 more game so we can get to 40-42 and let continuity take a W!

I do think the 9th seed is ours to lose because I don't see either Brooklyn or Atlanta catching up. For the teams above us, they're all pretty bunched up with only 2.5 games separating the 4th and 8th seed, so I expect a ton of movement in the next few weeks. I think either the Knicks or Philly will drop into the play-in range, but how far they go will depend on how soon they get their key guys back. I believe Embiid already started his ramp-up period, and looks like Brunson avoided a serious injury.

I agree we most likely stay exactly where we are, as it is a lot of ground to make up. But as they say - that's why they play the games. I know we won't climb to 6th, but just an opportunity to be in that 7th or 8th spot and if we win the play-in game, not have to play Boston is the first round would be great.

I wouldn't favor us in any first round matchup - but Boston is just playing on another level at the moment. I don't think it would even be competitive.

I do think this upcoming stretch for Indiana will be interesting to watch.

[DropStep]

Amazing win. It's still a kind of depressing place to be in as a franchise, but these guys won't let me check out.

I am worried about Coby, though. Dude plays a physical style, takes a lot of hits on drives and traps, and he plays a ton of hard minutes as the primary ballhandler. It had to be one cause of his slump. Sometimes I feel like I can hear him groaning as he has to chase down one more bad pass or lollypop inbound. And, hits like the ones with 5 seconds remaining tonight, those add up. It looked like maybe Ayo came over and dapped him up late tonight to get him to stop projecting tired body language.

I think Coby is pretty beat down. He continually plays through it, and is having some great games, and he's young, but I am afraid he's going to get injured right now if we don't get some people back and figure a way to take some minutes and some ballhandling off this guy. (I literally just knocked on wood.) DeMar looked fresh at the end tonight in comparison. That's part of what makes him so good in the clutch, and it may even be why Billy is more reluctant to go to Coby late than this board would like - maybe he sees the daily challenges Coby is dealing with, and he's like, let's stay with DeMar, he's pretty good at this.

[Red8911]

Not that our schedule is easy but the Pacers next 5 is against Dallas, Minnesota, Orlando, OKC, and us and they're currenly 5ish games ahead of us for the 8th seed.

Miami plays Detroit and Washington 4 times in their next 7 so they're not gonna slip. Orlando has an easy next 5 too.

I keep waiting for Philly to freefall in the standings and it's just not happening.

We apparently have the 7th easiest remaining schedule in the league, which is crazy because we just started our murderer's row West Coast trip. We've been playing .500 ball since New Year, so unless they pull off another serious run (seems doubtful with tired legs + injuries), this is likely the pace they'll stay on the rest of the year.

With 21 games remaining, that's good for 10 more wins, which should put us at 39-43. Maybe they take 1 more game so we can get to 40-42 and let continuity take a W!

I do think the 9th seed is ours to lose because I don't see either Brooklyn or Atlanta catching up. For the teams above us, they're all pretty bunched up with only 2.5 games separating the 4th and 8th seed, so I expect a ton of movement in the next few weeks. I think either the Knicks or Philly will drop into the play-in range, but how far they go will depend on how soon they get their key guys back. I believe Embiid already started his ramp-up period, and looks like Brunson avoided a serious injury.

I agree we most likely stay exactly where we are, as it is a lot of ground to make up. But as they say - that's why they play the games. I know we won't climb to 6th, but just an opportunity to be in that 7th or 8th spot and if we win the play-in game, not have to play Boston is the first round would be great.

I wouldn't favor us in any first round matchup - but Boston is just playing on another level at the moment. I don't think it would even be competitive.

I do think this upcoming stretch for Indiana will be interesting to watch.

Agreed this needs to be their goal right now. Get to 7th or 8th seed. They would play one of Indiana, Orlando, or Miami in the play in. Then if they win that game they would vs Milwaukee or Cleveland instead of Boston.

[Red8911]

Watch on YouTube

Nice recap for those of us who missed this late one.

Why was Sabonis not playing? Did he foul out? Lyles was terrible at center. Couldn't guard Derozan. Couldn't defend the rim against Coby. Couldn't secure a defensive rebound that would have given Sac a good shot to tie/win the game with 15 seconds.

Sabonis fouled out with 4 min left in the 4th I believe.Bulls were fortunate that happened or else game could have ended differently.

[kulaz3000]

Sabonis fouled out with 4 min left in the 4th I believe.Bulls were fortunate that happened or else game could have ended differently.

That's like saying Coby could have fouled out and the game would have ended differently. DeMar could have not gone berserk and things would have ended differently. Yeah, fouls happen and it's a part of the game, and Sabonis fouled out and like most teams in the same position would have done, we took advantage and won the game.

[Mbrahv0528]

Watch on YouTube

Nice recap for those of us who missed this late one.

Why was Sabonis not playing? Did he foul out? Lyles was terrible at center. Couldn't guard Derozan. Couldn't defend the rim against Coby. Couldn't secure a defensive rebound that would have given Sac a good shot to tie/win the game with 15 seconds.

Sabonis fouled out with 4 min left in the 4th I believe.Bulls were fortunate that happened or else game could have ended differently.

Ok? And if my Aunt had a...nvm. We won a game we should not have, why can we not be happy with that?

Sent from my SM-S918U using RealGM mobile app

[madvillian]

Shocked to wake up and see they won. That's gotta be one of the better wins this year.

[Ice Man]

Shocked to wake up and see they won. That's gotta be one of the better wins this year.

New Orleans - Road
Cleveland - Home
Sacramento - Road

That makes for 3 quality wins over the past 5 games. Plus a disappointing loss to the Pistons and an understandable loss to the Bucks. Overall, a nice stretch.

[League Circles]

Watch on YouTube

Nice recap for those of us who missed this late one.

Why was Sabonis not playing? Did he foul out? Lyles was terrible at center. Couldn't guard Derozan. Couldn't defend the rim against Coby. Couldn't secure a defensive rebound that would have given Sac a good shot to tie/win the game with 15 seconds.

Sabonis fouled out with 4 min left in the 4th I believe.Bulls were fortunate that happened or else game could have ended differently.

Maybe Sabonis shouldn't be so bad at fouling.

[Mr. Tibbs]

Woke up at 5 AM for pickup hoops and am just shocked that the Bulls didn't make me regret staying up late. The Coby breakout is giving me life.

[Mk0]

Nice recap for those of us who missed this late one.

Why was Sabonis not playing? Did he foul out? Lyles was terrible at center. Couldn't guard Derozan. Couldn't defend the rim against Coby. Couldn't secure a defensive rebound that would have given Sac a good shot to tie/win the game with 15 seconds.

Sabonis fouled out with 4 min left in the 4th I believe.Bulls were fortunate that happened or else game could have ended differently.

Maybe Sabonis shouldn't be so bad at fouling.

Sabonis fouled out because Fox pushed Coby in the back as he blew by him. Fox pushed Coby into the contact. It should have been a foul on Fox but that wasn't seen by the ref.

[Mk0]

So impressed with how this skeleton crew keeps pulling down quality wins. What a game.

Obviously Coby played like a superstar, but DDR’s 4th quarter was absolutely nuts. He looked like MJ out there.

And Ayo still defers too much in the second half of games, but when he’s looking for his you can see real improvement he’s making in his change of pace, change of direction drives. Quicker and tighter, a little more herky-jerky. A little more like Coby actually.

DeMar was incredible. 19 points on 7-7 shooting is some MJ sh#t

We still desperately need someone to pick up the first quarter scoring. We always start so damn slow. DeMar took 1 shot in the first and Coby didn't even shoot until the 2nd quarter. Ayo's 15 in the first half was huge. That along with Coby's 13 in the 2nd kept us afloat but we need someone to score early.

Too many nights of AC and Vooch being our first couple of buckets and no one else getting on the board. Ayo stepped up big tonight. He should keep trying to start early knowing DDR and Coby need energy for the late game. Ayo dropping 8 points in the first quarter would go a long way.

[Mk0]

Maybe because DeRozan has repeatedly gotten overly ISO-ish at the end of games, killing momentum, and Billy didn’t adjust to that - leading to a loss in those games?

Whatever DeMar and Billy are doing late in games, it's working better than whatever the Bulls have done earlier in games. Thus, rather than criticize the one thing that the team is actually good at, I would suggest that we address the opposite issue: Why on earth do the Bulls start their games so poorly? THAT is the problem that needs solving.

Coby and DeMar save their energy for the 2nd half. We tend to try and get Vooch touches early and hope for hustle plays like when AC had like 6 points to start the game the other night. Coby and DeMar look like they defer to start the game and outside of Coby/Ayo the starting unit is typically not a fast break threat unless AC gets a steal. Luckily tonight started with Ayo going baseline and pushing some pace on that end. Much better than walking it down and getting Vooch a touch.

[jump]

I think this team feels better coming from behind than trying to protect a big lead. As long as they win, we should be happy.

[kodo]

I would suggest that we address the opposite issue: Why on earth do the Bulls start their games so poorly? THAT is the problem that needs solving.

1Q FGA:
#1 Vuc
#2 Derozan
#3 White

4Q / Clutch FGA:
#1 Demar
#2 White
#3 Vuc

1Q TS%
Coby: 54%
Ayo: 61%

4Q TS%
Coby: 66%
Ayo: 68%
(Tatum/Brown duo are 56%/53% in the 4th)