NBA scores 2017: The Bulls are the most confusing team in the NBA this season

Sometimes, they look great and act like they really care. It’s the other times that put them outside the playoffs looking in.

by Tim Cato

Mar 31, 2017, 12:00 PM UTC

NBA: Cleveland Cavaliers at Chicago Bulls

David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

Stop trying to understand the Chicago Bulls. They don’t make sense, and they’re clearly not supposed to. The basketball gods sent this team to screw with you this season, and so we’re just going to have to roll with it.

They’re a team that swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in four games — something they completed on Thursday in a 99-93 win — while headed for a sub-.500 finish that falls short of the postseason. They signed Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo this summer, which would have been a hell of a offseason if it had happened four years earlier. They massively disappointed even by pessimistic preseason standards, and yet they’ve won 20 straight home games on TNT. They traded for Cameron Payne at the trade deadline, and he has moved from the rotation to the D-League to sitting inactive on the sidelines.

Oh, and they’re starting a dude named Paul Zipser. That’s not a real person. It can’t be.

On Thursday, they looked like a competent, engaged team. This happens periodically, and why Thursday was a magic stepping point for that to happen, no one really knows. Nikola Mirotic always seems to warm up around March, and it happened again, with him dropping 28 points on 9-of-14 shooting. Jimmy Butler dropped an efficient and consistent 25 points. Rajon Rondo, back in the starting lineup again after a strange season, was actually effective! Despite 3-of-13 shooting, he had nine rebounds and 15 assists and — most importantly — was a plus-six during his time on the court.

Why Chicago can click in and out of competency on a game by game — and even quarter by quarter — basis is beyond any of us. But the Bulls weren’t put on Earth for us to study and understand. They’re here to baffle everything we do, and stand out as a glaring exception to the rational discourse of the NBA.

Thanks, Chicago. Thanks for that.

Other things from Thursday

The Cleveland Cavaliers slump continues despite LeBron James’ best efforts. That’s the most concerning part, at least to me: James had a 26-point, 10-rebound, eight-assist evening, he shot 11-of-20 from the field, and he still couldn’t help Cleveland to a win against a team like Chicago. He was even making plays like this!

Sure, the Bulls played well, but the Cavaliers’ struggles are really starting to become worrisome. We know James has levels he can go in and out of, and there’s probably still one more he’s saving for the playoffs right now. But his teammates haven’t earned the luxury necessarily, and what if they really don’t have it right now or at any point headed into the future?
More LeBron talk, though: He passed Shaquille O’Neal for No. 7 all-time in scoring, and he maybe made fun of Lonzo Ball’s shooting form.
Jamal Crawford is studying witchcraft again. What is this!?!