Chicago Sports Exchange: Bulls Running In Place While Hawks Gain Ground
No reason to bury the Hawks in positive start; Bulls get closer to season's mid-point with questions surrounding them
Not much noise was supposed to be heard from the United Center roommates this year.
Whether due to injury or a perceived shortage in talent, neither Chicago’s Blackhawks nor its Bulls figured to have much of a say-so in their respective league’s playoff seeding.
Yet the Bulls have managed to stay on the border of the still-developing playoff picture while the Hawks are in hot pursuit of the defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning.
BUY — Hawks Proving Harder To Stop
Rumors of the Blackhawks’ demise were greatly exaggerated.
Or so it appears a quarter of the way through an abbreviated season now that the Hawks (7-5-4) have won five of their last seven games, including a 3-2 finish against Columbus in overtime Saturday.
Had it not been for a third-period collapse against the Blue Jackets two nights earlier, the Hawks would be riding a five-game win streak and the high of their first unblemished week of the season.
With that being said, each game, regardless of the result, presents its own set of lessons for a team that’s had to rely on players who are still getting acquainted with the NHL.
For those rookies to have proven themselves to be quick studies has been as crucial to the Hawks’ over-achievement as the steady play of star veterans Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat.
Particularly Kevin Lankinen, who turned away 29 of the 31 shots he faced Saturday after four made it past him in that nightmarish last period Thursday. The Finnish goaltender has gone from unproven talent to a legitimate candidate for rookie of the year on the strength of his .925 save percentage and 6-2-3 record.
In a similar vein, the Hawks have far exceeded expectations having played their way into a logjam for second place in the Central Division.
It’s still early but returns like these cannot be over exaggerated.
HOLD - Bulls Not Stingy With Highs, Lows
To follow the Bulls is to tightrope a fine line between delight and disappointment.
A 105-101 loss to one-trick pony Washington at the beginning of the week conjured up more of the latter than any had this season. So much so that the idea of securing better draft position at the expense of competing for a possible playoff berth didn’t seem so awful.
Two days and a franchise-record 25 three-pointers—17 of which left the red-hot hands of Zach LaVine and Coby White as the duo became the first teammates in league history to make at least eight treys in the same game—in a 129-116 win against New Orleans later, and (mostly) all was right with the world again.
That it was a 125-106 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers that kept the Bulls (10-15) from ending a week with more wins than losses for the first time this season is actually fortunate. Had it been at the hands of another cellar dweller like the Wizards, Bulls fans would’ve felt emptier than an unrequited valentine.
It’s gluttonous punishment to invest so much emotional currency into an evaluative season made tougher to assess due to injuries to Lauri Markkanen, Otto Porter Jr. and Wendell Carter Jr., who will play tonight against Indiana after missing the last 11 games because of a right quad contusion.
Then again, the Bulls’ newfound competitiveness is the carrot driving the rabid fan base who aches to watch their team play meaningful basketball games well into the spring.
Alas, the tightrope.
Drew Stevens is a Senior Writer for WARR Media, he lives and works in Chicago