Wendell Carter Jr. making a name for himself

The Bulls have lost three of the following 111-82 loss to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday. Here are four observations from that game.

1. It was pretty easy to see this one coming.

OK, maybe not trailing by 30 in the fourth quarter. But the Bulls have been the second worst offense in the NBA since Halloween, and the Celtics – despite their offensive woes – have been the league's best defense. This was a recipe for get-go disaster, even though the Bulls got off to a quick start and most of the first quarter.

It did not last. They shot 39 percent from the field, 30 percent from deep and six more turnovers (22) than assists (16). Zach LaVine continues to just look out of energy with all that's been asked of him; his 20-point streak ended with a 10-point effort on 3-for-11 shooting and he turned it over four times. He missed both 3-point and 37.6 percent from the field and 25.6 percent from deep in November. Wendell Carter Jr. could not make the Celtics pay when rolling to the basket, as the Celtics were quick to rotate.

Yes, the offense is undermanned as we have pointed out dozens of times. But the current crop of players is not bad-in-the-NBA bad, especially with LaVine.

And it's not getting any easier with Milwaukee and Toronto on the horizon.

2. It came across Twitter timelines subtly, but Chicago Tribune beat reporter K.C. Johnson noted that Lauri Markkanen has started shooting 3-pointers. He's just 7 weeks removed from his elbow sprain and remains on a firm 8 to 10-week recovery timeline, but this is promising. He's clearly getting his legs back, too, as this video @NBCSBulls tweeted out earlier Wednesday.

Glad to see Lauri's feeling better ? pic.twitter.com/ikAj09cCmF

– Bulls Talk (@NBCSBulls) November 14, 2018

Just as important as getting Markkanen back to the Zach LaVine lineup and allowing the 21-year-old to blossom is how it will affect. The fourth year guard at the back of the field last week. Markkanen back in the lineup will do.

It should help his efficiency, too. Right now LaVine does not really have another scorer to play with a two-man game, and defenses are keying in on him. It's a good way to get along with the Bulls slipping on offense.

When we were in a lot of times, we had a pick-and-roll or a step-up on the outer-third of the lane, they had to pick one, "LaVine said." I'm going to go downhill and make the big commit. But they're going to switch or show or whatever it is, they're going to have to commit to one of us. Lauri is such a good shooter. He almost makes the defender drop off and go into a help position. That helps spacing-wise. If they drop off too much, you can pass to him. I'm excited to get back there. "

3. Part of the reason Zach LaVIne is feeling so taxed during the recent rough stretch is the lack of a consistent second scorer. It appeared as though Jabari Parker $ 20 million man scored 14 points on 6 of 9 shooting. He was aggressive but under control, made some contested shots and took what the Celtics were giving while doubling LaVine.

But Parker quickly reverted to his old ways in the final three quarters, going 0-for-4 with three turnovers. It was still another maddening performance from Parker, who when he's in rhythm looks like a capable scorer at the NBA level. But he's now shooting 17 of 43 with eight turnovers to seven assists. He actually made a pair of 3-pointers – he had made just one triple in the last eight games.

4. Realistically there are not any positive from this game. It was ugly, ugly, ugly after the first quarter. But if you want to take it away from the disappointing it's that Shaq Harrison's motor never stops. It's clear the backup (third string-ish?) Point guard is trying to make the most of his minutes, and he's fun to watch. Some of it came in garbage time, but Harrison finished with a season-best 16 points on 7 of 10 shooting, 6 rebounds and 4 steals in 23 minutes.

At this point, Fred Hoiberg has no reason to keep rolling Ryan Arcidiacono out there – his 8 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists were not bad, but he did not affect the game – and the Cam Payne Experiment is still over for now. Maybe Harrison will get this weekend, especially with the Bulls facing back to back. At this point, why not?