March 24--The Bulls dropped to 36-34 with a brutal home loss to the Knicks. Here are three observations.
The rebounding continues to be poor
That's minus-29 on the boards in the last two games, including minus-19 against the Knicks. Granted, they shot 52 percent, meaning less rebound chances. But the Knicks also grabbed 14 offensive boards, nine by Robin Lopez, and enjoyed a 19-10 edge in second-chance points.
The Bulls rank last in offensive rebounds allowed in the NBA.
"They're long, but we didn't put enough pressure on their big guys," said Pau Gasol, who's partially responsible for that. "They shot the ball well, so we didn't have as many opportunities for defensive rebounds. And they had more as we didn't shoot the ball as well. But they were more active overall."
About that activity ...
The Bulls looked lethargic until the fourth quarter
The Bulls' woes extend beyond effort. But it's a pretty daming indictment when the urgency finally appears in the fourth quarter of a home game that is critical to playoff chances and a 22-point deficit is enough to wake a team.
Shouldn't that effort have been there before?
"I could feel it from the beginning. Taj Gibson said. "The energy wasn't right even when we had the lead. In games like this playing against a team not really playing for anything you can't give them any encouragement and once we started exchanging baskets and they started getting open looks, we were losing our man on coverages. They were draining threes and once the confidence started going it was a trickle-down effect. Their bench came in and did well. They played a lot harder than us. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. Not much more I can say."
The Bulls failed to cover the 3-point line
The Knicks shot 56 percent from beyond the arc. And while Carmelo Anthony sank a critical one in the fourth quarter with Jimmy Butler draped all over him, too often the Bulls failed to rotate properly or close out aggressively.
Plenty of the Knicks' 14 3-pointers came off wide-open looks, which is inexcusable for a team that had just 28 points in the paint.
"They got what they wanted to get," Jimmy Butler said. "They were too comfortable. We didn't make them feel us. That's supposed to be my job, to start it on that end of the floor. So when I get my mind off offense and making shots and start to guard, maybe, just maybe everything will turn around."
Time is ticking.
