A Third Meeting With Boston, Needing a Sense of Urgency, Behind the Arc, and Other Bulls Bullets

Nov 21, 2022

For the third time already this season, the Chicago Bulls will match up with the defending Eastern Conference champs.

Need to bounce back. Bulls-Celtics tonight.

7 pm CT | @NBCSChicago | @670TheScore pic.twitter.com/ui0T6nhx4q
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) November 21, 2022

Arguably, the Bulls’ best win of the year came against this 13-3 Celtics squad on October 24. The impressive 120-102 blowout victory represented almost everything this group can do well. Four of their five starters finished in double figures while the entire team shot just a lick under 50.0 percent. They dominated by using their athleticism and transition talent to attack downhill relentlessly. Chicago outscored Boston 46-34 in the paint and got to the free-throw line for 29 attempts compared to Boston’s 12. Not to mention, a communal effort on the glass helped the Bulls dominate the rebounding department 60-45.

Jump forward to Nov. 4 for the second battle between these two, and the Bulls shot an equally strong 51.4 percent from the field. However, a well-rounded Boston team was able to adjust accordingly and provide a far more physical fight down low. The Celtics took victories in both the points in the paint and rebounding department on their way toward a victory.

So … yeah … I think it’s pretty obvious what we should keep our eye on tonight. Whichever team wins underneath the rim is likely going to win this game. The Bulls have the size personnel in both Nikola Vucevic and Andre Drummond to give this Robert Williams-less Celtics team trouble. They also have the talented wing scorers to go toe-to-toe with Boston’s equally adept wing defenders. The question is whether or not they can regain the kind of discipline and energy that helped them pick up some impressive wins over the first two weeks of the season. This group has played nothing short of defeated in the past few games, and it’s up to them to prove that a loss to the Orlando Magic was the kick in the rear they needed

Indeed, team leader Zach LaVine spoke about tonight’s bounce-back opportunity after practice this weekend. When asked how important it is to have a sense of urgency, he didn’t hesitate to answer:

“There is a sense of urgency when you lose a game, and we all have that sense of urgency individually and collectively as a team,” LaVine told reporters. “I think you need to have that. You need to be a desperate team to go out there and get those wins. The games aren’t going to stop. You’re going to have to continue to play these high-level teams. We need to get it going. I think everybody has that sense or urgency because you care.”

This team has pretty much said all the right things during this concerning slump, so I can only take LaVine’s words with a grain of salt. I’ll believe him when this group can come out and win a darn first quarter.

The reigning DPOY will return to the floor tonight against Chicago. Yippie.

No designation for Marcus Smart on Boston’s injury report, clearing the way for him to return tomorrow in Chicago after missing the last couple games.— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) November 20, 2022

One of the more fun stories in the NBA right now is the rise of Yuta Watanabe for the Brooklyn Nets. An NBA journeyman until now, he’s on fire from downtown and carving himself out of a rotational role.

Yuta Watanabe came into Sunday leading the NBA in 3-point shooting at 56 percent.

He went 4-for-6 from 3 and exited to a standing ovation.@Alex__Schiffer on the Nets’ win: https://t.co/x5sXtxTTht pic.twitter.com/8OgQ8ZAscP— The Athletic NBA (@TheAthleticNBA) November 21, 2022

Notes on Yuta's game last night + changes in shot form here: https://t.co/gl5qAezn08
— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) November 21, 2022

I’d love it if a random Bulls role-player suddenly would like to become a high-volume knockdown shooter. Is Javonte Green interested? What about Derrick Jones Jr.? Is Marko Simonovic finally ready!? Somebody, please!

Speaking of which, Boston currently shoots the 2nd-most 3-point attempts per night and sits 3rd-highest in makes. The Bulls have done an excellent job running this team off the 3-point line in the previous two contests, but can they do it a third time in a row? If not, we all know their chances of matching the Celtics from behind the arc are annoyingly slim. Chicago is taking the 2nd-fewest attempts per game and shooting just 35.3 percent on the year.

I’m liking the new head of hair for Dalen!

Roster Update: Dalen Terry has been recalled from the Windy City Bulls. pic.twitter.com/oUK7a5gBjt
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) November 21, 2022

The injury bug has sunk its teeth into Philly.

The Philadelphia 76ers announce Joel Embiid will miss tomorrow's game against the Nets with a left mid-foot sprain, as well as Friday's game against the Hornets. His status beyond that will be updated later.

Philly will be down at least Embiid, Harden and Maxey tomorrow— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) November 21, 2022

Excuse me?

Cairo Santos’ Field Goal Streak Ended After Using … a Backup Kicking Ball?https://t.co/l9BmHSbRk0 pic.twitter.com/rDit5fpbOp
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) November 21, 2022

Is trade season starting early in the NHL, too!? We talked about the NBA side of things last week.

Is This Rockford Promotion an Indication the Blackhawks Are Getting Busy on the Trade Market?https://t.co/7MZF6PcUz9 pic.twitter.com/bJDNv9VXrv— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) November 21, 2022

written by

Elias Schuster

Elias Schuster is the Lead Chicago Bulls writer at Bleacher Nation. He started with BN full-time in 2019 immediately after graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign with a degree in Journalism (yes, he started with the Jim Boylen Era). Since joining, Elias has been the driving force behind Bulls and NBA content for both the site and social accounts. You can follow him on Twitter/X @Schuster_Elias.

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