With three days off to prepare, the Chicago Bulls were able to take down the New York Knicks 108-100 in their first of three matchups in the final six games of the season.
Coby White and Alex Caruso both left the game with ankle injuries, further reducing an already thin lineup. Luckily for the Bulls, they just brought Javonte Green back on a full-season roster spot.
In 32 bench minutes, Green injected his athleticism and nose for making positive plays into the game, setting a new career-high in points and rebounds with 25 and 13, respectively. It was his first-ever double-double.
“We needed a spark like Woo,” DeMar DeRozan said after the game.
Green got the majority of his points on offensive rebound putbacks, in transition, and by cutting into space for easy layups and dunks.
“He’s very, very explosive, and he can get there quickly and he can get off the floor quickly,” Billy Donovan said. “He manufactures a lot of different points. He made a three tonight, but you know, a lot of it was at the rim what he was doing today, which you know, it’s hard to get easy baskets. For us, it’s been hard, so when you can generate some easy baskets, that really helps.”
The Bulls offense has been known to bog down in the half court. With limited shot creation off-the-dribble, the team often depends on DeRozan to pull a rabbit out of a hat. As good as he is, DeRozan can’t carry the entire offensive burden on every possession. To alleviate him, the team has been forced to resort to post-ups and mashing the offensive glass with the dual-big lineup.
That’s why the team, mostly last season, preached “randomness”. They wanted to find gaps to create easy baskets throughout the course of the game in transition, by back-cutting, or tipping in offensive rebounds to help make the team a bit more difficult to guard, and to avoid becoming overly dependent on DeRozan.
But those random plays have not been a part of the Bulls’ identity this season. They are last in the NBA in cutting frequency with only 4.4 percent of their total offense coming in the form of cuts. The next lowest team is 5.3 percent.
That’s why plays like this can ignite the team.
“I had a flashback to when I used to do that a long time ago,” DeRozan joked. “Plays like that ignite us.”
The dunk was so good, Andre Drummond got a technical on the bench for celebrating it.
“He dunks like he’s 6’9″,” DeRozan said. “How fast he get off the floor. How quick he is. How hard he dunk the ball. It’s incredible. The guy is, he’s one of a kind man. I’m glad to have him back.”
Cutting is a skill like any other. It’s something players have to do within the flow of the offense, but understanding how to read the floor, exploit gaps, and turn those opportunities into points is not something just anyone does at a high level.
“I think cutting is a really high level skill that’s really, really, really hard to teach because a lot of it’s instinctive,” Donovan said. “A lot of it is seeing gaps because sometimes you can just start cutting and running into people and killing spacing or killing a drive. He’s got a really good feel and awareness of when and where to go into what area at what time. He’s really good at that.”
Those types of plays unlock an element the Bulls offense has not had this season. And that makes life a lot easier on DeRozan.
Transition is another area the Bulls vowed to improve upon, but the returns have not been up to their ideals. With only 14.3 percent of their offense coming on the break, they are dead last in the NBA in transition offense.
“He makes it so easy,” DeRozan said. “During a timeout, he was telling Ayo just throw the ball up, and I think two possessions later, he threw the lob.”
Green had four dunks on the night, showcasing the explosive athleticism he was known for during his tenure with the Bulls before his knee injury. It’s uncommon for an athlete of Green’s caliber to lose his spot after surgery and then have to work his way back through the G League.
“What he went through this past summer, not really finding a home and then having to go to the G League, I think there’s always something to be said about guys that have had to go through what he’s had to go through in terms of a hunger standpoint,” Donovan said.
Green mentioned that after his surgery and starting to play games with the Golden State Warriors’ G League affiliate, he didn’t start to feel like himself until after the All-Star Break. And he was worried he may never regain that explosiveness.
“Of course, because that is my game,” Green said. “Mostly, you know, just in being able to anticipate the next play, and being able to have that pop and get off the ground quick. That was my game. So of course that was like something that I worried about.”
With his high-flying dunks against the Knicks, it’s evident that Green has regained his former self, both athletically and in terms of contributing to the Bulls’ victories.
