Chicago Sports Exchange: Bulls and Hawks Each Searching For Answers As Second Halves Begin
A desperate lineup change on the court and defensive problems emerge on the ice
With how badly the Chicago Bulls stumbled out of the All-Star break, something was bound to give.
That something was a change in the starting rotation, for now. But if this week produces similar results as the last—double-digit losses in two of their three games—longer lasting shakeups could be in store as the March 25 trade deadline looms.
Meanwhile, the Blackhawks have issues of their own to iron out.
HOLD - Results TBD On Bulls Lineup Shakeup
It’s good to see you there, Wendell Carter Jr.
In his first-ever appearance as a reserve, the third-year center played with a chip on his shoulder, scoring 12 points and yanking down 11 rebounds to help the Bulls beat the short-handed Toronto Raptors 118-95 Sunday.
His seventh double-double of the season and the 23-point victory were sights for the sore eyes of some fans who were one more loss to a wounded opponent away from begging Arturas Karnisovas to risk it all for the draft lottery.
The Bulls’ (17-20) failure to capitalize on the absences of Miami’s Bam Adebayo Friday and Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid Thursday even drove Billy Donovan to move Carter Jr. and Coby White to the bench in favor of Tomas Satoransky and Thad Young.
It’s much too soon to judge the lineup change a success, but the details that led to the snapping of their two game skid—35 assists on 44 made field goals, nine players in double figures (including a career-high 23 points from Patrick Williams) and outscoring the Raptors in each quarter—are encouraging.
The returns from this week’s games against Oklahoma City (tonight), San Antonio (Wednesday), Denver (Friday), and Detroit (Sunday) will paint a clearer picture of where this team is headed and if all of its parts will be moving in the same direction.
HOLD - Blackhawks Struggling To Contain High-Powered Opponents
When it’s rained on the Hawks, it’s poured on the Hawks.
They avoided taking the collar for the week, but each of their last two losses can be tied to them hemorrhaging goals and taking a nosedive in the competitiveness that had come to define them.
It took just four minutes for Dallas to score three times on the way to a 6-1 rout Tuesday. Florida needed an additional 33 seconds, but lit the lamp the same amount times to fuel their 4-2 drive past the Hawks Saturday. Altogether, the Hawks (14-10-5) were out-shot 72-54 and surrendered 84 of 130 face-offs in those two games.
It’s an alarming trend, especially when factoring in their 6-3 unraveling at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning March 7.
A ray of light showed on the horizon before Monday night’s rematch against the Panthers — the Hawks entered the game 6-1-2 in the second game of a series after dropping the opener — but that wound up being another 6-3 loss.
With four more matches against the Lightning and the Panthers extending from this Thursday to the following one, the Hawks have a lot to prove of themselves right away and against two of the powers in their current, temporary division.
BUY - Fire Off To Good Start In Preseason Action
Sure it’s just the preseason, but for a team that’s reached the playoffs just once in the past eight years a win is a win.
Robert Berić and Elliot Collier supplied the ammo in the Fire’s 2-1 victory in a friendly against New York City FC in Orlando Saturday.
Two of the team’s new additions, Chinonso Offor and Jhon Espinoza, made their debut while a third, Stanislav Ivanov, was held out after suffering a minor setback leading up to the match.
Next up is another friendly Saturday against the Philadelphia Union.
Drew Stevens is a Senior Writer for WARR Media, he lives and works in Chicago