The Chicago Bulls finished up yet another mediocre season on Friday night as they lost to the Miami Heat in the NBA play-in tournament. It was a disappointing season, so it was fitting for it to end in disappointing fashion. The Bulls got out to a good start in Miami as they hit a few threes early to go up 11-6, but it was all Heat after that. Miami won the game 112-91, and they are now headed to the playoffs to take on the Boston Celtics.
After going up 11-6, the Bulls surrendered a massive run and ended up going down by 20 in the second quarter. After they went down 20, the Bulls actually did a good job of weathering the storm. Chicago fought back and made it a seven point game in the third quarter, but the Heat turned things back on and ended up winning in blowout fashion.
So, another season is in the books for the Bulls. After starting 5-14, things went pretty well, but they are still far from satisfying this hungry fan base. No one really expected this team to make it to the postseason in the early stages of the year, so making it this far was exceeding expectations, but the fan base wants more.
The Bulls finished the regular season with a 39-43 record. They did get a win against the Atlanta Hawks in their first play-in tournament game, but they once again failed to make it into the playoffs. Chicago was just one win away and a victory in Miami on Friday night would've sent them to the playoffs, but they couldn't get the job done. Here is what plagued the Bulls against the Heat.
The entire Bulls offense
There isn't just one person to blame when it comes to the poor offensive showing that the Bulls put up on Friday night, it was just an all-around off night. On Wednesday against the Hawks, the Bulls were getting exactly what they want, especially Coby White. White finished with 42 points in that game and most of it was from being aggressive and getting to the paint. That didn't happen on Friday, and White had just 13 points.
The Heat deserve a lot of credit for the off-night that the Bulls had on offense, because they simply had a good plan to shut down Chicago. They saw what they were able to do on Wednesday, and they knew that they would want to attack in a similar way. Miami didn't let that happen. They had a great game plan, and it worked.
Rebounding and fouling
Again, there isn't really one person to blame here either. This wasn't an instance where one or two players played a bad game and it cost them. The Bulls were thrown out of funk all night long, and two crucial areas that they lost were the fouling game and the rebounding game.
Bulls head coach Billy Donovan has been preaching all season long that defense and rebounding are the two things that Chicago needs to focus on. When they win those battles they typically win. When they don't, nights like Friday happen.
One thing that has made things difficult on the Bulls in that regard is injuries, and that has resulted in a smaller lineup. Still, those areas hurt them on Friday as the Heat won both of those battles.
The season is now over the Bulls, and the fan base hopes that there are some changes made this offseason.
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