Bulls looking like beasts in the East
Photo Credit: RantSports.com
The Chicago Bulls may not be on top of the Eastern Conference, but as of right now, they look like the team to beat. The Bulls won their sixth consecutive game by defeating the New Orleans Pelicans 107-100 on Saturday night, and the victory moved them to 21-9 on the season. That may only be good for fourth in the East, but they’re trending up and Vegas still sees them as a better bet to win it all over any of the teams ahead of them in the standings.
Chicago currently has the second-best odds to win the East at 13/5, according to VegasInsider.com. Only the Cleveland Cavaliers are ahead of the Bulls, but Chicago has looked like a bigger title threat to date. The Cavaliers just lost Anderson Varejao for the season to an Achilles injury, and their defense has been super inconsistent. It’s still tough to bet against LeBron James, but the Bulls have a deep and balanced team that can easily take him down.
What makes Chicago so dangerous is the fact that they finally have an offense to match up with its defense. The Bulls have always been a superb defensive team under Tom Thibodeau, but the offense has been lacking the past few years with Derrick Rose on the shelf. This season, the offense is even better than it was when Rose was the MVP in 2010-11. Chicago has scored 106.9 points per 100 possessions this season, which is sixth in the league, per NBA.com. When Rose was the MVP, the Bulls had an offensive rating of 105.5.
Chicago’s offensive brilliance is even more impressive considering they’ve dealt with myriad injuries to start the season. Rose has missed 10 games due to several issues, while a host of other players have missed time. This really hasn’t mattered though, because the Bulls have killer depth that has helped them survive all the injury problems. Bench players like Aaron Brooks and Nikola Mirotic have stepped up, and those two have played major roles in crunch time of late.
Crunch time is where Chicago has really succeeded this season. The Bulls have outscored opponents by 15.9 points per 100 possessions in the fourth quarter this year, the best mark in the league, per NBA.com. The offense has taken it to another level in winning time, and the defense usually clamps down when it counts.
You can’t talk about the Bulls’ fourth-quarter dominance, or success in general, without mentioning Jimmy Butler. The fourth-year man has transformed himself into a star this year, and his excellence was on full display against New Orleans. Butler scored 33 points on 12-of-18 shooting against the Pelicans, and he scored nine of his points in the fourth quarter on 4-of-4 shooting. Butler showed off his improved post game in the frame by using and abusing Jrue Holiday down low.
With Butler taking on a starring role, the pressure has been taken off Rose to always be “The Guy.” The superb depth and the addition of Pau Gasol has helped this as well, and it’s why Chicago has a better chance to win it all this season than they did the last time Rose was healthy. Not only do the Bulls have the second-best odds to win the East, but they have the fourth-best odds to win the championship at 8/1.
As long as Chicago stays healthy, that’s looking like a darn good bet.
