Last season, the Chicago Bulls had the best record in the Eastern Conference until midseason, when injuries hit them hard and dropped them down to a sixth-place finish and a first-round exit in the NBA playoffs.
It led to some high hopes for this season, but so far, the Bulls have been duds.
They hold an 11-15 record, which is 11th in the conference, meaning if the play-in tournament started today, they would be out.
There have been two main culprits for Chicago so far this year.
1. Injuries
When last year’s All-Star break started, the Bulls had a 38-21 record and were stampeding through the Eastern Conference.
But the injuries started to pile up, and the compound effect of having key men out resulted in them winning just seven of their last 22 games.
Most concerning has been the meniscus tear that guard Lonzo Ball suffered last January.
At first, it was thought he wouldn’t miss too much time, but he underwent surgery, and he was ruled out for the rest of the year after he had pain during the ramp-up process of his recovery.
Since then, his knee has failed to respond properly to treatment and rehab, and he has played in nary a game this season.
Ball is certainly no All-Star, but his ability to up-tempo the game, get others involved, and defend is key to what Chicago did in the first half of the 2021-22 campaign.
2. Defense
The Bulls’ ability to hold opponents down got them out to the top record in the East early last season, but this season, that defense has some holes.
The Bulls have a top 10 defense? How?
— D.O.C (@darwinchvz320) December 13, 2022
Although they rank eighth in defensive rating, that stat is misleading, as they’re 23rd in defensive field-goal percentage, 24th in 3-point shooting percentage allowed, and next-to-last in assists allowed.
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