This past Monday, the Chicago Bulls defeated the Houston Rockets 120-100, improving their record to 14-16, while winning 6 of their last 10 games, and 3 of their last 4. The offense, led by All-Star Zach LaVine, has been on a tear lately, scoring at least 105 points in each of their last 5 games.
Now, the biggest question for this young Bulls team is can they keep this up? The Bulls currently sit at 8th in the Eastern Conference, and are only 1 game back of the 5th seeded Toronto Raptors. Their roster highly consists of young, rising stars, with a good mix of veteran role players such as Thaddeus Young, Garrett Temple, and Tomas Satoransky.
The biggest key for the Bulls to keep this strong play alive is consistency. They have only won 3 games in a row once this season, and they followed that up by losing 3 games in a row. For a team that’s mostly led by young players, that is bound to happen.
Consistency is hard to find in this league, but with the aforementioned veteran players, and veteran head coach Billy Donovan, it is easy to be confident that this Bulls team will eventually find that consistency. Whether they do or not, many fans and analysts would agree that the Chicago Bulls are heading in the right direction.
On Tuesday, Zach LaVine was selected to the Eastern Conference All-Star team for the first time in his career. Averaging a career high in points and efficiency, it was a well-deserved accolade for LaVine.
This alone gives reasons of hope for Bulls fans, as it was the first time the Bulls had a player in the All-Star Game since Jimmy Butler in 2017. Outside of LaVine and the veterans, the Bulls have a cast of promising, young players such as Coby White (pictured), Lauri Markkanen, who is currently injured, Wendell Carter Jr., and rookie Patrick Williams.
However, in terms of this year, it is hard to imagine the Bulls going anywhere past the 1st round of the NBA Playoffs, if they even make it that far. With this being said, it is definitely a step in the right direction, especially after 3 straight losing seasons.
Now, it will be interesting to see if the Bulls can keep this up, especially against teams that have better records than them. Can the offense continue to score 105+ points a night? Can the Bulls start stringing together multiple victories in a row?
Can they continue to close out victories like they have been this past week?
These are all questions that must be answered in the next few weeks for this young team. As for right now, Bulls fans should be rejoicing, as this team is filled with hope and promise for the future.