Ick

The Bulls followed their cardiac-arresting 122-121 win over the Blazers Wednesday night with an atrocious 143-107 loss at home Friday to the Heat. Last night’s performance against the league-worst Wizards—1-14 coming into the game—was hardly better. Oh, the Bulls won 121-120, but only because the hapless visitors had problems inbounding the ball with six seconds left. Some pressure caused a turnover with one second to go, and disaster was avoided. After the game, Nikola Vucevic complained that he and his teammates “were very soft” for the first three quarters. [quote from story in today’s The Athletic]. Oh, out of the mouths of veterans. This is a team bad at securing loose balls—hey, guys, Norm Van Lier made the team Ring of Honor for a reason—and securing rebounds on the defensive end. Oh, and the opposition isn’t exactly afraid of scoring in the paint. What to do? Dive for balls, snag rebounds, box people out. Unfortunately, with this team it’s all easier said than done.