When Jim Boylen called for time to quell an 8-0 run Enes Kanter with 1:25 left in the third quarter, something about the game felt over.
A juiceless United Center crowd, which buzzed merrily along through the contest's first 35-and-a-half minutes, was evidence of that. The Celtics, up 83-71, were pulling away, and the dreaded third quarter had struck again.
“We gotta be more locked in, have more sense of urgency,” Kris Dunn said of the team’s struggles out of halftime this season. “We have to have awareness to understand that we have been poor in the third quarter.”
Poor is right. For the season, the Bulls’ -8.9 third quarter net rating (101.5 offensive, 110.5 defensive, 26th in the NBA) is their worst for any period by a wide margin. Their first (+4.1) and second (+1.8) quarter net ratings are both, in fact, positive, while in the fourth quarter (-1.9) they register just in the red. The Bulls shot 5-for-16 from the field and 1-for-7 from 3 in the third period on Saturday.
That inefficiency often renders the team’s counterpunches vain. Against Boston, they responded to the Celtics pulling ahead 93-77 early in the fourth with a 15-2 run over a breathless two-and-a-half minute span. Frankly, it was exhilarating. Bodies and balls were flying, fastbreak chances (and conversions) abounded and the United Center was in a frothing frenzy.
But then, as suddenly as it started, the action halted. That score — 95-92 — held for the next 1:21 before a Gordon Hayward layup extended the Celtics’ lead to five. The visitors pulled away from there, eventually winning 111-104.
Dunn called that minute-and-a-half stalemate “nothing” in the context of a basketball game. Still, the Bulls scored just 12 points the rest of the way after hitting 92 with 7:21 minutes left in the game.
“Our execution on the offensive end, the plays we didn't make, the things we didn't finish, to me, were the difference in the game,” Boylen said. “They made big plays down the stretch.”
“Obviously, we come back with a fight, it’s not like we don’t have that in us,” Zach LaVine said. “But sometimes, it’s too little too late.”
After losing to the Utah Jazz in tooth-and-nail fashion earlier this week, Wendell Carter Jr. called late-game execution “about 95%” mental and stressed that as a block this team still has yet to clear. In falling to the Celtics, another explanation came to fruition, though perhaps they work in concert.
“Fourth quarter, that's when the level rises for each team. It's time to buckle down and see who can execute more, who can get more stops. So, in the third quarter we can't have those mishaps and allow teams to jump out on us where now we're down 12 and we're playing catch up,” Dunn said.
The reality is, in the Bulls’ best offensive moments, the team is reliant on grinding defensively, generating turnovers and capitalizing on the fastbreak. The sustainability of that strategy is suspect, proven more so with each hard-fought loss that culminates with lacking halfcourt offense.
“That takes a lot of energy, playing catch-up,” Dunn continued. “So we gotta be able to withstand and keep things close.”
But credit the Celtics in two key areas: their length and activity was a major problem (the Bulls shot 42.5% and committed an uncharacteristic 16 turnovers) and Jayson Tatum hit some flat out ridiculous shots.
“The only thing I can do is tip my hat off, he made a lot of great plays,” Dunn said. When asked if he said anything to Tatum after his last 3-pointer to put Boston ahead 108-101, Dunn retorted: “I didn't say nothing to him. I said something to myself, like what the f***? I mean, you make that shot, you got it rolling. And he had it rolling.”
This truly was a make-or-miss game. The Bulls being on the wrong end of too many of those might rush some to referendum, but the players are maintaining perspective, and still taking lessons away.
“They get down or teams make a run, they know how to withstand it, and that's what they did,” Dunn said. “Adversity hit and you could see it in their face, they were poised, they wasn't worried. They believed in their system, they kept executing and that's what we have to take from the game.”
“We keep stringing these games together,” LaVine said. “But it’s not going to get any easier.”
He’s certainly correct in that.
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