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The past few weeks have been a little tough for the Chicago Bulls, but on Wednesday night they got back on track with a 129-116 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. It turned out to be a historic victory, both at the team and individual level.
Turning 25 of 47 beyond the arc, the Bulls set a franchise record for 3 points. In the process, Zach LaVine and Coby White combined to burn their names in the record books by becoming the first pair of teammates to each reach at least eight 3s in a match. LaVine finished with nine triples and a season-high 46 points, while White had eight downtown shots en route to 30 points on his own.
Perhaps it was no surprise that the Bulls’ brilliant shooting display came against the Pelicans, who allow the most 3-point attempts (41.3) and 3-point marks (15.3) per game in the league. But pelicans dropping a lot of 3’s don’t tell the whole story. Let’s take a closer look at how LaVine and White made history.
Off-ball errors
Unless your job is to analyze basketball, you probably don’t pay too much attention to what goes off the ball, but this is where countless possessions are determined in every game. The Pelicans found out all too well, as simple mistakes and miscommunication have resulted in a number of open searches for LaVine and White.
Here is an example from the end of the first trimester. The Bulls perform a dribble transfer action to the left side of the floor, while LaVine sits in the corner on the weak side. Eventually the ball finds its way to Thaddeus Young at the top of the key, at which point LaVine switches places with Denzel Valentine and appears on the wing.
There’s really not even a screen here, but Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart aren’t communicating properly. Ball wants a switch and tells Hart to take LaVine, but Hart isn’t on the same page, resulting in a wide open 3.
Later the first, the Bulls threw a pick-and-roll at the top of the key with Young for Tomas Satoransky. As Satoransky begins to drive, Patrick Williams sets up an off-ball screen for LaVine, who appears at the corner wing. Pelicans do not sail properly.
Zion Williamson gets caught showing too much help on the ball and can’t get the shooter back, and Hart has no chance to get around the screen in time. As a result, this is another open 3 for LaVine.
Paint touches
A very simple truth about basketball is that if you can put the ball in the paint good things will happen. The Bulls proved it again Wednesday night, especially in the second half. Their ability to get the ball inside collapsed the Pelicans’ defense, which led to open shots around the perimeter.
Basketball looks so simple when everything works like this.
Impressive individual shot
Obviously your opponent has a big impact on how games play out, but historical performance isn’t just offered. LaVine and White both put in some really tough shots in the game.
Offensive rebounds
Despite all their faults, the Pelicans are a formidable rebound team and rank No. 3 in the league in bounce rate and offensive rebounds allowed. That didn’t change on Wednesday night, with the Bulls only managing to grab seven offensive boards.
The problem for New Orleans was that Chicago made them count. Those seven rebounds turned into 16 second chance points, including a number of the 3 open for LaVine and White. It’s extremely difficult to find a match in these situations and these clips are great examples of why bounce is so important.
Sometimes teams are going to have a rough night on the defensive side, and sometimes players are just going to feel it from 3 points. On Wednesday night, those two things happened in the same game, which is how LaVine and White made history at the expense of the Pelicans.
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