At some point in the last week, the Chicago Bulls misplaced their defense.
Perhaps they should retrace their steps or search under the couch cushions. But with only six games left in the season — and the playoffs long removed from reach — nothing will change regardless of whether the Bulls ever remember how to defend their opponents.
That much was clear Wednesday night. The Bulls seemed to opt out of defending the Indiana Pacers in a 145-126 loss. The Pacers swept the season series
More Top Picks Irlen Syndrome And Depth Perception Problems Explained
, tallying three of their 18 total wins against the Bulls.“We could have been better,” coach Billy Donovan said. “We could have had more resistance defensively. The ball came downhill and went through us to the basket. We’ve got to be able to wall up and have a presence and make a stance in the lane.”
It was not the worst loss in Bulls history. That title still belongs to a 133-77 beatdown at the hands of the Boston Celtics that occurred in December 2018. And it also didn’t surpass the highest-scoring game by an opponent in team history, a nearly untouchable 168-point performance from the Atlanta Hawks in a quadruple-overtime game in March 2019.
Still, giving up a whopping 145 points to a team that has won only 18 games reflects a level of disrepair — or simply disregard — in the Bulls’ defensive effort.
They gave up 83 points in the first half. It helped that the Pacers went 12-for-28 from 3-point range during that two-quarter span — mostly fueled by four from center Jay Huff — but they also took more shots. The Bulls turned the ball over 12 times in the half and gave up 14 points off the fast break. By the time they headed to the locker room, the Bulls had given up nearly as many points as they typically cede in a full game.
The Pacers lost steam in the second half. Coach Rick Carlisle began to pull starters such as Huff and Pascal Siakam within minutes to naturally curtail the team’s overall offensive output. They scored a paltry 62 points in the second half, outscoring the Bulls by only two points.
The Bulls were never strong on defense, but despite a long losing streak their defensive rating actually improved slightly after the All-Star break. That improvement tapered off, however, over the course of the last two weeks. The Bulls gave up a league-worst average of 128.8 points in their last 10 games, a mean that will only increase with the addition of Wednesday’s loss. They gave up 157 points in a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers last week.
With only six games remaining, the main focus for the Bulls is the draft probabilities created by their final standing in the league. Wednesday’s loss helped the Bulls hold a one-game lead over the Milwaukee Bucks for the ninth spot in the draft-lottery standings. The Bulls can’t reasonably expect to surpass the Memphis Grizzlies in these standings, which means the race with the Bucks is their only remaining controllable variable in the season.
The Bulls also are tracking the progress of the Portland Trail Blazers, who will convey an additional first-round draft pick to them only if they progress out of the play-in tournament. The Trail Blazers play five more games in the next 11 days, including a crucial April 10 matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers that will decide seeding for the Western Conference play-in.
Ultimately, the Bulls’ absent defense will help — not hurt — in this effort. But it may lead to some eye-popping scorelines over the final two weeks of the season.