Bulls 109, Sixers 102: Bulls close in clutch to earn 5th straight win

Five straight wins for the surging Chicago Bulls.

Beating the Philadelphia 76ers 109-102, this is the Bulls’ second five-game win streak of the season. Sandwiched in between these winning streaks were a five-game and a seven-game losing streak.

Another day, another clutch game for the Bulls. Heading into the evening, they were 11-8 with a -2.2 clutch net rating. They’ve now played 20 games within five points in the final five minutes, tied for the third most in the league.

Coby White came alive in the fourth to help close out, but both he (13 points on 4-of-12 shooting) and Josh Giddey (12 points on 3-of-12 shooting) struggled from the field all night.

As a result, Billy Donovan rode the bench deep into the fourth because of how well they played. Zach Collins (+6), Jalen Smith (+24) combined for 27 points on 9-of-15 shooting as the double-big lineup continues to pay dividends. Kevin Huerter (nine points on 4-of-9 shooting), Tre Jones (15 points on 6-of-10 shooting) and Ayo Dosunmu (eight points on 3-of-6 shooting). On the whole, they were a +48 and outscored the 76ers’ bench 59-12.

No Patrick Williams in the rotation for the first time since being whole. Donovan got Williams short stints in the second quarter over their previous two games, but Friday was his first DNP-CD of the season, and maybe his career.

Following the win, the Bulls are now 15-15 and are the 9th seed in the East.

Up next: The Bulls host the Bucks on Saturday night, the second of a back-to-back. The Bucks are also on the second night of a back-to-back, playing the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday. They have been floundering since Giannis Antetokounmpo went down with an Achilles injury, having lost five of seven since they lost Antetokounmpo, and are 12-18 on the season. 

Tune into the CHGO Bulls postgame live: 

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Much has been made about the margins with this Bulls team; given the fact that they don’t have a surplus of star power on the roster, they have to be conscientious about the possession battle. 

The Bulls are 14th in turnover rate, 21st in free-throw rate and eighth in effective field goal percentage. They’re able to give themselves a solid floor with efficient shot making and relatively low turnovers through movement and motion rather than self-creation. 

Those elements of the four factors help make their own possessions efficient, but they don’t create new possessions altogether, and that’s where turnover generation, where the Bulls rank 24th, and offensive rebounding, where they rank 26th,  come into the picture. 

Since becoming healthy, the Bulls have utilized their two-big approach, playing two of Nikola Vucevic, Collins and Smith together. They’ve done so in a zone, which keeps the defense in front and allows them to always have some bigger bodies near the basket to deter shots at the rim. 

Theoretically, this added rim protection could allow the perimeter defenders to be more aggressive in hunting steals, gambling, shooting gaps and allowing them to get out in transition, but that hasn’t been a directive of the coaching staff so far. 

“I do think we have to turn people over by being in a good position,” Donovan said. “The bigger lineups have given us more offensive rebound and rim protection. But we’re not telling our guys, ‘hey, those two guys are back there and just go for steals’.”

Since December 15, the Bulls are 22nd in offensive rebound rate and 21st in opponent turnovers. That may not seem like a big jump, but every extra possession matters. Since the Bulls are sixth in overall transition rate but 20th when it comes to running off steals, that could revolutionize their game. 

“We’re not telling our guys, ‘go out there and be more aggressive or try to go for some steals,’” Donovan said. “We’re definitely not telling them that. There is just a little bit more size back there, which is inevitably going to help. Because I do think once the ball breaks the free-throw line, it gets into the teeth of the defense, and it’s in the paint, even though there may be some guys to deter shots from going up from there, you still get spray-outs. You still get the potential to offensive rebound from those shots.”

The Bulls had only three steals and 12 offensive rebounds against Philadelphia for 13 points in transition and 12 second-chance points. 

— Will Gottlieb

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 Cue Cameo’s “Back and Forth”. This game was exactly that. 

Philly definitely made a serious effort to stop Giddey. VJ Edgecombe was all over him every time he touched the bawl. I like that because it says teams are starting to respect his game and he’s earned having your best defender on him. 

Dosunmu was great. Helped lead the bench along with Collins. Always great to see. Watching the Bulls’ bench carry them night after night is crazy. In a good way. But crazy.

Man, I really like Jones. The way he attacks, his pointguardsmanship, his vision, it’s all great to see and enjoy. 

How was Joel Embiid playing, let alone scoring? 

White was off again. Bad shooting night. He’s not been great these past few games.

— Big Dave