The moment was watershed. Transactional, as the (cool) kids like to say now.
Not the halfcourt shot for the “historic” victory, but the 16-point-deficit, 44-point fourth quarter against the LeBronversation-led Lakers who were not only on the back end of a game-winning classic against the Pacers the night before, but a team that was playing its 10th game in 15 days in the middle of a Midwest trip while in the midst of a Western Conference playoff race in which there has been no such thing as “games off” since before the All-Star break.
Usually for the last two years at this time, this space has been reserved for and occupied by 900 words dragging the Bulls for their inconsequential playoff pushes and even lesser-in-consequence play-in appearances in losses to the Heat. They were purposely hurtful column-long takes on a team considered a joke that didn’t even need a punch line.
Not anymore because with one Josh Giddey 46-foot Bulls hit, like Jake and Elwood in the same church with James Brown, we “see the light!” And just when we think the moment really was watershed, they, this team, these Bulls followed that “amazing” moment up with a one-point loss to the Mavericks and maybe a worst-of-the-season, “embarrassing to this organization” (as Coby White put it) loss to OKC.
Who are they, besides a team that secured a third consecutive play-in spot with a more legit chance than in the past to secure a playoff series? The team that stood up in the last minutes of that in-the-moment “legendary” victory against the Lakers or the team that allowed a 36-13 run in the second quarter to OKC that turned a nine-point game into a 145-117 felony? Then the Bulls turned around and put up 70 in the first half against the Raptors one night later, finishing that win with 137.
Going 11-4 in their last 15 games (since those back-to-back losses to the Pacers and Cavs to open March) and averaging 117.6 points for the season is alluring, seducing. But that 120 ppg they’ve been consistent in allowing opponents all season is a problem.
A problem too glaring to act like there’s nothing to see there. A problem that through all of this new good juju the Bulls are bringing now that it seems as if they’ve found themselves is our “snap out of it,” back-to-reality gut check.
So as we continue to choose that “spectacular” victory over the Lakers as their new hope, just remember that OKC, only two games after that watershed moment, led the Bulls at one point by 43 and shot 53.1% from the field and 53.5% from three-point range and took it easy on them in the fourth quarter by “only” scoring 31 points, ending the game with 145 when they could have 160’d ’em.
Stop. Center self. Find that Andy Puddicombe voice inside of you. Chill.
As Stacey King tweeted after his epic Fred G. Sanford call on that fated, “Beat L.A.!” day, “I told y’all this is a totally different team since the trade deadline. Bulls Nation, it’s time to believe what you’re seeing. This team is for real!” There, for beyond rightful reasons, is still an out-loud luxury of trepidation within us. Hell, we Chicagoans in Chicago, apprehension mixed with anxiety is how we show love. The almost, close to, slight resemblance of game-to-game schizophrenia of this Bulls team — just in the last week — allows nothing less.
If we’re keeping it close to our Moncler vests and betting apps so that we don’t get too far away from ourselves, this team as it stands right now is pretty much absolutely where it was predicted to be. The Bulls’ preseason overall BPI (Basketball Power Index) ranking was 21; on ESPN’s current power rankings leading into the league’s last games, the Bulls are ranked 19th (up from 21st last week). Their preseason projected wins were 38.5; they’re at 35 with five games left. Preseason odds to make the playoffs: 43.5%; today, while sitting in the 9-spot, their chances of getting that elusive No. 8 seed by (finally?) beating the Heat and/or just winning two games in the play-in: 23.53%. But what does BetMGM really know about who this team is now?
The bigger question persists, do they know themselves? The answer is closer to yes than it has been in probably the last three or four seasons. If not a full-on “yes,” then one in which the read in the answer is that they are finding their footing in a way that will lead them to very soon — and simultaneously — discover self-awareness and self-identification. Which leads to self-worth.
Which turns them into the Magic or the Pistons next season. Right?
Stop. Center self. Find that Pharrell voice inside of you. Chill, Scoop.
