The Chicago Bulls are going to have a hard time looking back on this season. While they finally made the jump to make the Playoffs again after 6 seasons, they showed a lot of early-season promise they couldn’t deliver on. They have been hampered by injuries, but another underlying problem has plagued them all season.
The Bulls have had an incredibly hard time stopping teams around their caliber. The Bulls have proficiently beaten teams that are worse than them but have a major Achilles heel. They cannot beat any team that is playoff quality.
Since the start of the season, the Chicago Bulls have only won 2 games against a top-eight seed in either conference. They are 2-20 in their games against playoff teams, a record that is technically worse than that of the worst NBA regular season team of all time, the 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats.
Worst team record:
.122 — 2015-16 Sixers
.110 — 1972-73 Sixers
.106 — 2011-12 Bobcats
.091 — 2021-22 Bulls vs top 8 teams pic.twitter.com/i7xGRdMXDi
— StatMuse (@statmuse) April 6, 2022
The Bulls have had a multitude of issues hit them in their first positive season in years. While they do have two electric scorers in Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan, they have seriously struggled on the defensive front all season. Their best perimeter defenders in Lonzo Ball, Patrick Williams, and Alex Caruso all missed long stretches this season with injuries. Williams recently returned after getting hurt in the first month of the season.
The Bulls haven’t had a defensive anchor all season either, with Nikola Vucevic’s defensive deficiencies showing. Defense wins championships, and this inconsistent defense is what has hurt the Bulls against top-tier opposition this season.
The team has confirmed a playoff spot for themselves, so their performance in the regular season won’t matter. But considering how they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks tonight, it will be challenging for them to get out of the first round. They are currently matched up with the Bucks in the 3-6 matchup.
