Milwaukee broke the game open with a big 40-point third quarter to win its ninth straight game against Chicago. Here are a few observations from the night.
A Bulls offense that had a strong first half was out of sorts as the Bucks sagged a good eight to 10 feet off guard Kris Dunn, whose defender clogged the lane as his teammates pressured off the ball. The Bulls had no answer for it.
“You’re in a choice, and we’ve had this situation before,” Bulls coach Jim Boylen said. “Do you put him off the ball? We need him defensively. We need his playmaking. We need his heart on our team. He’s a big part of our team. Do you put him off the ball and they shrink off him? Or do you put him on the ball and you hope he can make some plays and they guard him? That’s the dilemma with that situation. So we did a little of both. They executed their game plan, and we struggled to score.”
Dunn had just four points on 1-of-6 shooting and was a game-worst -21 in plus/minus. He has been instrumental in his team’s recent ascension to being a top-five defense in the NBA, but the Bulls are at a serious disadvantage against quality, disciplined defenses when he’s on the floor.
It just speaks to one of the Bulls’ biggest concerns in their rebuild – they lack an abundance of quality two-way players. To contend at a high level, that’s a requirement.
On Monday, Markkanen rested for a stretch of 10 minutes, 41 seconds of game time in the first half. That’s an eternity in basketball. He played 28-plus minutes on the night.
It’s here that we must note Markkanen has been dealing with a flu-like illness over the past four to five days, so Boylen has made a point to manage his minutes a bit lately. I understand that, but it continued a trend that has occurred even when Markkanen has been healthy.
Markkanen is averaging 30.1 minutes, down from his 32.3 minutes of a season prior.
Markkanen is a key part of whatever future the Bulls hope to have. He’s 22 years old, in good shape and is one of the team’s best players. He should be playing at least 34-35 minutes when games are competitive. My approach would be to rest him for a stretch of six to seven minutes in each half.
And get out of here with the “it’s just a few minutes difference” response that some may contemplate. There’s little margin of error for this Bulls team, and Markkanen on Monday showed the difference he can make in a quick stretch in scoring nine points in 2:53 upon returning in the second quarter after his marathon bench session.
Young wasn’t thrilled with his role on the Bulls, the Sun-Times reported on Dec. 12. In the aftermath, Young acknowledged he wanted more playing time. He hasn’t actually received that, with his minutes average in the eight games since nearly identical to his season average.
But a few of those nearly 22 minutes a night that Young is averaging could go to Markkanen if the Bulls weren’t so dead set in their belief that Young helps them and that they need to keep him engaged and pleased. Because for Markkanen to get more playing time, either Young must sit more or the Bulls need to go to a three-big man rotation, which would leave promising-but-inconsistent rookie center Daniel Gafford out of the mix.
Perhaps an overlooked development: Young has been pretty bad for weeks. He was really good in the Bulls’ first eight games and hasn’t made much of an impact since.
Young shot 37.9% overall in the 13 games that he played in December, including a 2-of-8 showing Monday. He shot 37.1% in 15 games in November. His defense has been good but not game-changing, and it doesn’t make up for his inefficient offense. He also holds a -3.2 rating per 100 possessions when he’s on the floor.
A team that already gives so many minutes to Wendell Carter Jr., Kris Dunn and Ryan Arcidiacono can’t also cite “glue guy” as the reasoning for Young's playing time. Really, we have to draw the line on that somewhere. Show me a team of so many glue guys, and I’ll show you an underachieving squad.
The Bulls should try their darndest to move Young before the trade deadline on Feb. 6. He will mean more to a contender than them.
Afterward, Boylen wasn’t willing to let his wallet take a hit by way of a fine for criticizing the officials.
“I appreciate the question, but I’m not going to,” Boylen said when asked for comment. “I don’t make that kind of money to give it away.”
With its loss to Milwaukee, Chicago fell to 1-12 against teams that are currently .500 or better. The Bulls have the second-hardest schedule remaining in the NBA, per Tankathon.com, and it continues when they host the Jazz on Thursday and then the Celtics on Saturday.