That. Was. Bad.
The Detroit Pistons were without essentially their entire rotation: Cade Cunningham (ankle), Jalen Duren (ankle), Tobias Harris (ankle), Isaiah Stewart (ankle) and Ausar Thompson (ankle) were all out, joining Jaden Ivey (knee), who has yet to play this season.
Yes, the Chicago Bulls were without Josh Giddey (ankle), who was a late scratch. But losing to this version of the Pistons is a disappointment to say the least.
With a final score of 124-113, the Bulls fall to 6-5, and have now gone 1-5 in their last six games since starting 5-0.
The first half was nearly unrecognizable basketball from the Bulls. While they did get into the paint, they lacked the physicality, effort and constant pressure we have grown accustomed to seeing from them this season.
Meanwhile, the Pistons, who were missing nearly their entire rotation, were at the rim at will. They were 11-for-13, plus they drew three shooting fouls, at the rim in the first half. While the Bulls shot it well (8-of-18) in the first half from three, the Pistons shot it better (9-of-17).
The third quarter wasn’t much better. While both teams struggled to shoot the ball from three, the Bulls turned the ball over six times and allowed Detroit to maintain its 16-point lead.
In the fourth quarter, the Bulls came to life, going on a 15-0 run to get the game back to striking distance, eventually cutting the lead down to one. But fouls, more open looks, and a handful of turnovers cost them.
Up next: The Bulls have three days off, during which time Coby White is expected to practice with the team, ahead of a stretch of five games in seven days, starting in Utah on Saturday.
Tune into the CHGO Bulls postgame live show:
The Bulls’ defense is officially a problem.
Coming into the game, the Bulls were 16th (115.4) in defensive rating. Sitting in the middle of the pack would have been considered a success prior to the season, and getting off to a 6-4 start to the year, the big picture numbers aren’t the most alarming.
But over their last seven games, the Bulls have been the 23rd-ranked defense (120.1), and against the Pistons, their defensive rating was 119.2.
The rim protection was non-existent: the Pistons shot 28-for-37 at the basket.
There aren’t any elite shot blockers on the Bulls, so they have to rely on better defense at the point of attack to stop drives from happening in the first place. They have to execute seamless rotations, be crisp in their help assignments and provide help to slow down any drives that do take place.
None of those things happened until the fourth quarter. On some nights, they may be able to overcome that with an avalanche of stops and scoring, but continually getting into these 20-point holes is a slippery slope. — Will Gottlieb
This game was drunk as hell – and not the fun kind.
Bulls got a cupcake matchup put at their feet, and they chunked it. Biffed it. Swatted it away with an annoyed “no thanks.” No rim protection or resistance whatsoever, even worse than usual. And the Pistons A-team bigs were all SITTING. Turnovers galore. Inefficient from the free-throw line.
The phrase “play down to your competition” is used often, and Bulls fans are plenty familiar with it. At the surface, tonight’s game may seem to be a perfect example of this incredibly frustrating problem. But perhaps, there could be an underlying truth that’s even scarier to face than the simple one:
Maybe the Pistons’ emergency depth – that looked on paper like a ripe W for the good guys – is actually better than the Bulls’ “depth” that certain roster-building people love to brag about as the team’s best attribute.
Yeah, the Bulls made a comeback. 15-0 run in the fourth, huzzah huzzah. Then…they went back to playing some DUMM basketball. Gross loss. Hilarious loss.
And some people were mad at me for not showering this team with enough praise after five games. Or for not believing in them enough before the season began.
Long season, y’all. On to the next. — Matt Peck
Well. That sucked. Then it didn’t. Then it did. I honestly had a good time.
What was this game? The Bulls did not come out with intensity from the start. Even though they were shorthanded, the Pistons absolutely punched them in the mouth.
This was the worst game I’ve seen Nikola Vucevic have this season. He was a step slow, got bullied inside and couldn’t score.
The Pistons played the Bulls’ style. Everyone touched the bawl, hustled, fought and scored consistently in the paint and from 3.
Bottom line, Bulls were not ready to play. Need a much better showing…
And then the 4th Quarter happened. THANK GOD FOR 48 MINUTES.
Bulls fought back and made a game of it. This would have been a more explosive expletive-filled tirade without that 4th. Hurry back, Coby, Josh and Zach. — Big Dave
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