What to Be Thankful For With the Bulls

Though Thanksgiving officially has passed, the holiday mood heavily remains present, and you can tell that by certain signs. For instance, I’m writing about the Bulls late on a Friday night. Hangovers from the holiday are rampant, and the Bulls are not exempt from them. At least it appeared that way in a 103–96 loss to the Miami Heat, particularly during a 13-point second quarter.

Rather than focus on all the boring details of the latest loss for the 5–14 Bulls, let’s look at the positives from the game and see how they illustrate what we’re thankful for with this team. It’s difficult, but holidays are about finding the brightest spot in the darkest hour. This year’s Bulls are no exception.

1. The ability to bounce back from poor quarters: The Bulls have a knack for putting bad quarters behind them. After scoring 13 in the second quarter Friday, they put up 30 in the third, cutting a 21-point deficit to nine. Of course, the problem is that the holes they dig themselves into are too deep, and it’s usually too late to get out of it. Obviously, they’ll need to eliminate the low-scoring quarters to resolve this problem.
2. Continued offense from Zach LaVine: Even for all the knocks on his defense, LaVine must be appreciated for the scoring he was acquired to provide. After a 27-point performance Friday, he’s 10th in the NBA in scoring at 25.4 points a game. Though his usage rate remains high at 32.2, we should be happy he’s helping his team stay in games with that.
3. Jabari Parker’s scoring: People seem to forget Parker was signed for offense, and only his offense, so they criticize his defense. While it’s not unwarranted and he hasn’t helped the Bulls avoid the second-worst team scoring average in the NBA (103.8), he remains their second-best scorer at 15.6 points a game. Plus, his 23 points Friday gave him 20 or more points in three of his past four games.
4. Justin Holiday’s 3-point shooting: Holiday has the team’s worst average plus/minus at minus 10.4, but he’s their most consistent shooter from beyond the arc. Exactly one week after making a perfect 6 for 6 from downtown in the first half of a 123–104 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, he kept the Bulls in Friday’s game with five more 3-pointers. He has made at least three from that distance in five of his past six games, which you want to see from someone the Bulls could trade this season.
5. Ryan Arcidiacono eating minutes: With Kris Dunn injured and Cameron Payne a disappointment, Arcidiacono has seen more of a workload recently. After playing exactly 31 minutes in three of his previous four games, he was on the floor for 40 in Friday’s loss while recording his first seven-assist game since Halloween. While he might not be doing much else, it’s one of the best things the Bulls could have hoped for while waiting for Dunn’s return.

The Bulls play the Minnesota TimberBulls, er, Timberwolves on Saturday. This will be their first look at the new Derrick Rose. Chances are he’s had this game circled on his calendar for the past few weeks. With both teams playing the second of a back-to-back, neither will have the excuse of being too fatigued.