'I was actually laughing': On the Chicago Bulls 'total outlier' 2-of-29 three-point shooting night

When it comes to shooting, there are good days, there are bad days, there are really bad days, and then, there’s what the Chicago Bulls experienced in Tuesday night’s 105-95 loss to the Detroit Pistons.

The team shot just 2-of-29 from three, a dismal 6.9 percent.

“It’s a total outlier game in terms of that kind of shooting, especially from these guys,” remarked Billy Donovan. “The thing I’m hoping we can learn from this is it wasn’t like we were down by 25 because of it. I thought the loose balls, the offensive rebounds, the hustle plays, the transition — we still had opportunities to overcome it. I’ve always talked about the things we can control. And I did think to a certain extent, the frustration got in a little bit.”

“Total outlier” probably doesn’t even do it justice. Historically bad is safer.

• Two is the fewest made threes in a single game by any team in the NBA this season
• 6.9 percent is the lowest three-point percentage in a game by any team in the NBA this season
• 6.9 percent is the worst three-point percentage of any team in a single game in NBA history among teams taking at least 29 three-point attempts

Nikola Vucevic (1-of-7) and Dalen Terry (1-of-2) made the two three-balls for Chicago. Coby White was 0-of-5 and finished with 10 points on 2-of-14 shooting. Alex Caruso and Ayo Dosunmu were also each 0-of-5. Honorable mention to Jevon Carter, Terry Taylor, and DeMar DeRozan who also missed threes.

“We got some great looks tonight, but like I said, it was kind of amusing to just to see the great looks that we got that didn’t fall,” Dosunmu said after the game.

The Bulls, now at 27-31, account for two of the Pistons’ nine wins on the season. While this is a particularly bad loss, Donovan’s comments about this being an outlier are patently true. This kind of shooting night has never happened before in the history of the league, and it’s not something they can or should expect to happen again.

“I was actually laughing,” Dosunmu admitted. “I was like laughing in my head. When you look at it, we’re like 2-for-30, that’s just crazy. What are the odds of that happening?”

Coby White’s struggles

White, who trails only DeRozan in total minutes played on the season, has struggled in the team’s three games since the All-Star Break. But he’s not using workload as an excuse.

“The minutes ain’t catching up. I just gotta hit shots,” he said.

“The ball isn’t going in the basket for me. I don’t try to miss,” he continued.

At the same time, he did acknowledge things are not the same and he has to make some changes as far as his physical and mental preparation for 40+ minutes of play each night.

“It’s been an adjustment just because this is something different,” White said. “It’s a challenge. I’m going to take it head on. Grow from it, learn from it and continue to get better each day.

“I can’t do as much as I want working out-wise because of the minutes,” he went on. “I spend more time in recovery. It’s been a challenge and adjustment, but I just want to keep getting better and keep learning as much as I can.”

Some other fun facts

• At 15.7 percent, Pistons’ rookie Ausar Thompson has the worst three-point shooting average of any player in the NBA this season. He had as many made threes as the entire Bulls team after shooting 2-of-4
• Four different Pistons players made two or more threes, including Simone Fontecchio who hit 5-of-9
• Cleveland Cavaliers wing Max Strus hit a 59-foot buzzer-beating, game-winning three against the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night. The combined distance of both made Bulls threes was 48 feet.
• Strus, who the Bulls will face Wednesday night, hit five threes in the final four minutes of Tuesday’s game.

Up next: The Bulls have a back-to-back against the Cavs on Wednesday

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