It looks like this Bulls team has a problem.
They don't seem to understand they are not supposed to win games like Monday's 128-114 victory over the Boston Celtics, trailing by 19 points late in the third quarter, facing those superstar franchise players that they supposedly don't have and the ones that they do have who supposedly don't so much fit together, especially because one doesn't understand the importance of three-point shooting, and in one of those revered places you are not supposed to win on the road.
Instead as the Bulls remain on a 70-win pace with the best record in the NBA at 6-1, you speculated that in a splintering Celtics locker room the new coach was warning that, "Ryan Gomes is not walking through that door, Gerald Green is not walking through that door, Leon Powe is not walking through that door."
Instead with DeMar DeRozan lighting up the scoreboard and scoring a season-high 37 points on 15 of 20 shooting, Zach LaVine recovering from a slow start with half his 26 points in the fourth quarter, Nikola Vucevic an assist short of a triple double and rookie Ayo Dosunmu with a career-best 14 points making all six of his shots and leading a bench with plenty in reserve, these new Bulls gave a new twist to the Boston Massacre.
"First and foremost (the team) just being resilient," marveled DeRozan. "It's very gratifying to see we kept the fight. We were down big on the road, a tough place to play in. We didn't get rattled, we buckled down. The second group came in, brought the energy and we carried it over from there. For me, just seeing the fight which I knew from coming here everybody on the team had that chip on their shoulder and weren't going to lay down; it showed it tonight.
"It's something I wanted to be part of," DeRozan added. "Everybody willing and wants to win. You see it in the preparation, behind the scenes that nobody gets to see that's very intense, the time we put in, how much we pay attention to detail. So much that goes on that carries over onto the court."
DeMar DeRozan finishes a layup in the first-half against the Celtics on Monday night.
And with a second impressive victory in a row following Saturday's win over the Utah Jazz that has the NBA taking notice, a DeRozan shot short at the buzzer against the Knicks is the only thing between the Bulls and a flawless start to the NBA season.
"I been in a lot of games being down big on the road and seeing things that are possible," said DeRozan, one of the more underrated players in the league because of his often disparaged midrange game preference. "All it takes are parts of the game to really buckle down and stick together. For me, keeping that calm and not getting rattled and sharing whatever experience I can to keep us together as well."
It's also why so many overlooked the Bulls coming into the season; not that they're certain to remain on the current 86 percent winning pace. But it's been a change with the addition of veterans like Vucevic from late last season, free agent DeRozan, LaVine coming off a confidence building Olympic experience—"You mean Lillard and Tatum are considered superstars and not me?"—Alex Caruso with championship experience and a sprinkling of veteran role players like Tony Bradley and Derrick Jones Jr., who along with Caruso and Dosunmu for the second consecutive game led the team in plus/minus rating.
"The second unit did a great job coming in at the end of the (third) quarter and to start the fourth," said Bulls coach Billy Donovan, pressing all the right buttons again.
Donovan continued to expertly stagger scorers LaVine and DeRozan with the reserve groups, thus also enabling them opportunities to hand off the scoring baton like a relay team and riding the hot hands off the bench as he stayed with Dosunmu and Jones this time for Troy Brown and Alize Johnson.
Highlights from Chicago's big 19-point comeback in Boston on Monday night.
It didn't look so good early when the Celtics surged ahead 67-59 at halftime with Caruso having a rare series of missteps. And then when the 2-5 Celtics behind the scoring of Jaylen Brown with 26 points and Jayson Tatum with 20 were delivering the Bulls some familiar memories with a 96-77 Boston lead with 2:28 left in the third quarter.
Celtics rookie coach Ime Udoka said his team relaxed and didn't take the rest of the game seriously. But like in the Bulls near steal against the Knicks, the Celtics should have known better. These guys don't seem very good with defeat.
The Bulls squeezed it closer to within 103-89 at the end of the third quarter with the first of a pair of Dosunmu threes, and a LaVine I'm-done-worrying-about-that-thumb five straight points. Then it was Zach and the Irregulars with Dosunmu, Bradley, Caruso and Jones with a 12-0 start to the fourth quarter. And what do you know, talk about your one possession game with 8:30 left.
This was not going to end well for a Celtics team with the league's worst defense, giving up the most points per game, booed at home already. And crack went the Celtics as after the game Marcus Smart announced what many have suggested: Maybe it's Tatum and Brown who can't play together.
Not LaVine and DeRozan.
"Every team knows we're going to Jayson and Jaylen, and every team is programmed and studies to stop Jayson and Jaylen," said Smart, which perhaps may not have been so smart (even if it was so Smart) seven games into his new coach's tenure. "I think everybody's scouting report is to make those guys try and pass the ball. They don't want to pass the ball..."
Was that the sound of a locker room splintering?
These Bulls are now forcing teams to begin muttering to themselves.
That fourth quarter run began with a Dosunmu run in transition, attacking and scoring over Al Horford for a layup, a Caruso three, then a Caruso block helping on defense and a three-on-one started by LaVine to Dosunmu to Jones Jr. for the slam, a driven LaVine three-point play, and LaVine scoring after the Bulls retrieved a Caruso miss. And then after a Smart driving score while Tatum and Brown possibly were playing odds and evens for who shot next, LaVine scored on a fading jumper. Then Dosunmu squared up for a three when Vucevic was doubled: 106-105 Bulls with 6:53 left; game over, essentially.
"I thought we settled down and started to play closer to how we needed to play," said Donovan. "Vooch and Tony Bradley were really aggressive in pick and roll coverage on Tatum and Brown (coming up at the point of the screens and recovering with backside help). We did good job of rotating and scrambling to give some help on rolls and stuff at the basket. (They) kept battling and fighting and I give Zach a lot of credit. It wasn't a great offensive performance for him maybe the first two and half, three quarters. But he stayed in the game mentally and was able to make some big plays for us. And DeMar played really well and the bench played well."
Billy Donovan reacts to the comeback win postgame with the media.
DeRozan had warned the critics; they could play together, and would do well together. Because, you know, they were basketball players. DeRozan is averaging 25.6 for the season, every game after the first scoring at least 20 points and 27 for the last six.
"He's just a basketball player," Donovan went on to explain. "He can pass it, he's got really, really good vision, he can post, he can play in pick and roll, he can play midrange, made a corner three to kind of ice the game (with 1:16 left for a 12-point lead). He's one of those guys that he'll figure out where and how to get to his spots and what he needs to do. He's getting more and more comfortable playing with these guys, he getting more and more comfortable about where his spots will be, he's feeling more comfortable with the second unit as far as how he needs to play (you mean there's more?). He's really smart, experienced. He's a very cerebral, smart player who really understands and has a great feel for the game. He's just a basketball player; that's what he really is."
Oh, that's what they mean.
Heck, even the rookie second-round pick looked like one.
Not that Dosumnu hadn't previously, but he'd been somewhat uncertain on offense even as he showed impressive resolve and poise for a rookie. But when he passed on another jump shot against the Knicks, he decided upon some encouragement from the coaching staff it was enough. Though Dosumnu comes off gangly at times, he plays with unusual poise, aplomb and confidence.
"He's got a certain kind of makeup that is really special," commended Donovan. "He's ultra, ultra competitive and has unbelievable confidence and belief in himself. But it's not cross-the-line, arrogant. He just is fearless and has a way about him the way he competes defensively; he's not afraid. He's got a great balance of humility and competitiveness. You can see the way he takes the ball to the basket, takes a three. I can't tell you how many times in training camp the second unit played against the starters and he's won games on shots in training camp against the starters. He's got a great, great belief in himself."
Donovan said he wanted to go with Dosunmu and Jones because they'd played well against the Jazz, but they could be pushing Brown and Johnson down the bench. Though it's also advantageous to have a sort of motivational bench rotation that those who get results get the playing time.
"With Derrick out there, Ayo out there, having DeMar (or LaVine), Lonzo (Ball, 12 points and four of six threes), when Alex comes back in it's a high motor team," said Donovan. "They generate transition points, turnovers; they kind of fly around out there, disruptive. They played very, very well."
Not so much early in the game despite the starters making their first five shots, all three-pointers, and it would have been six if LaVine's three came a half second sooner on the shot clock. So it was quickly 20-11 Bulls: and they were off on a Bulls run? Not so fast.
"We lost our way for a good portion of that game," said Donovan. "We got off to a really good start. We were moving the ball, sharing the ball and then it was really our defense was the problem."
Zach LaVine scored 22 of his 26 points in the second-half to help lead the comeback.
Or how the Bulls play defense with steals, deflections and blocks leading to transition points. Entering the game, the Bulls were third in forcing turnovers, second in fewest turnovers and margin of turnovers, third in steals to turnover ratio. But in the first half, the Bulls were without a steal and being doubled up in fast break points. The Celtics were shooting 56 percent on threes. Enter the dawgs; well, eventually.
After taking that 106-105 lead, the Bulls scored on eight consecutive possessions with Vucecic in the middle of it with four of the team's seven fourth quarter assists as he finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists (a 50-38 Bulls rebounding advantage) and sage advice that didn't include digesting any sage. Just Celtics.
"We just weren't moving the ball like we should do," said Dosunmu. "I give credit to Vooch. He came into a timeout, we were down like 16 and he spoke up about it. From that point on we went out and played like we should play. He just said we weren't moving the ball and settling for tough shots."
It also was said often that LaVine took shots that were too tough, if also missing the point that's all you get if you have to score most of the points for a team. Not anymore.
"Definitely fun playing with him," DeRozan said about LaVine. "He's an incredible, incredible basketball player, but even more a human being. It's fun to be out there (with him) and whatever I can do to help to alleviate anything for him and my team, I'm definitely going to do that."
Mission accomplished; well, at least so far.