Better rebounding might help Bulls hold big leads, but they lack physical presence
The Bulls have blown plenty of leads this season. They've had seven double-digit advantages turn into losses.
But there was nothing else quite like Monday night in Oklahoma City, when the Bulls led by 26 points in the second quarter and lost to the Thunder 109-106.
The simple, broken-record explanation is this is what happens to young teams in the NBA. It's easier to execute the game plan in the first half, especially if the other team comes out flat. When the pressure grows, the opponent turns up the intensity and the crowd gets fired up, it's not so easy.
Oklahoma City's closing lineup of Chris Paul, Steven Adams, Dennis Schroder, Danilo Gallinari and Terrence Ferguson owns a combined 219 games of playoff experience. The Bulls had Tomas Satoransky, who logged 16 playoff games when he played for the Wizards and most of those were token appearances.
The more difficult question is how do the Bulls win games against players who have earned graduate degrees in closing out NBA contests?
This is more of a roster issue than anything else, but one obvious problem is a lack of rebounding strength. The Bulls are 6-3 when they outrebound their opponent and 4-16 when they don't. The deficit against OKC was 42-31.
"That's where we have to grow," Bulls coach Jim Boylen said after the game. "We have to get those big rebounds, those timely rebounds to close our games. We talk about it, we work on it, we do the drill work on it and we're hoping it can carry over as we go here."
An obvious culprit here is Lauri Markkanen. He tied his season-high with 17 rebounds on Saturday against the Clippers, but had 4 or less in the three other most recent games. Against the Thunder, he had 3 rebounds in 36 minutes.
During his three seasons in the NBA, Markkanen has had stretches where he grabs double-figure rebounds. But he's also shown a tendency to stand back and watch battles on the glass without getting involved.
According to nba.com, Markkanen ranks 99th among forwards in rebounds per 48 minutes with 10.8. Is that bad? Well, it's not great, but he is second on the Bulls behind Wendell Carter Jr. and ranks ahead of guys like Pascal Siakam, LaMarcus Aldridge, LeBron James, Draymond Green and teammate Thaddeus Young.
This issue isn't all on Markkanen. None of the Bulls guards rank particularly high in rebounds besides Shaq Harrison. Markkanen, 22, should get better as he matures physically. But this team certainly lacks physical presence, which is pretty much a staple of good NBA teams.
"When people crawl into us, we've got to grit our teeth. We've got to slow down, not speed up. And we've got to play lower, we've got to embrace the contact and we've got to play through it," Boylen said. "Some of that is just maturity. Some of that is what we have to experience and then grow with it."
There were some careless mistakes against the Thunder that should be easier to correct. Up 25 late in the second quarter, the Bulls allowed OKC to finish the half with 6 free throws, which included a flagrant foul by Kris Dunn.
The Bulls were still in good shape - ahead by 16 - when Zach LaVine (39 points) checked out at the 2:12 mark of the third quarter. This time, the Thunder finished the quarter with a 10-2 run. OKC scored 4 points in 3.5 seconds when Schroder hit a layup, made a steal off the ensuing inbound pass and hit Paul for a jumper. Markkanen got the turnover for throwing the pass, but Coby White was probably more at fault for being too casual when he started his dribble.
Paul got hot from 3-point range in the fourth quarter, which is when the tide really began to turn. His first 3-pointer came in transition when no Bulls picked him up. Then he hit four in a row over Bulls big men, either after switches or offensive rebounds. Paul victimized Markkanen twice, Carter once and Young once. When Dunn started fighting through screens and not switching, Paul didn't connect from long range again.
The Thunder also got a few key foul calls in its favor late in the game. This is where experience helps - veterans not only know how to draw fouls, they get more calls from the referees.
Why two Bulls posed with Paul:
After Monday's game, the broadcast on NBC Sports Chicago closed with a shot of two Bulls, Wendell Carter Jr. and Coby White, posing for a photo with Oklahoma City guard Chris Paul. Carter and White played for Paul's AAU team when they were kids. White and Paul are both North Carolina natives. Carter grew up in the Atlanta area.
There was issue taken on the Bulls postgame show for the two players opting to take a photo after a tough loss. On Tuesday morning, White's brother Will sent a message on Twitter which read, "For everyone talking about my brother and Wendell taking pics with Chris after the game (specifically my brother) y'all don't understand. It's bigger than basketball at the end of the day Chris has helped him and our family more than any of you guys can or could."
Twitter: @McGrawDHBulls