The Bulls are going to learn a lot about themselves over the next two weeks. It’s hard to call a game in January, against the Joel Embiid-less Philadelphia 76ers, a must-win, but after a week of infighting and social-media shade, Sunday’s 121-108 win put them in the right mindframe for a stretch that could make or break their season.
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The last time the Bulls went on a road trip this long, they were still something of a surprise around the NBA with their early success. The Bulls have come back down to earth since then, but they are 24-25, just one game below .500, and sitting in in seventh place in the Eastern Conference.
The Bulls kick off the trip on Feb. 1 against the Oklahoma City Thunder before facing the Houston Rockets on Feb. 3, the Sacramento Kings on Feb. 6, the Golden State Warriors on Feb. 8, the Phoenix Suns on Feb. 10 and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Feb. 12. That’s three Western Conference playoff teams, including the best team in the league, and two teams (the Thunder and Timberwolves) that have already beaten the Bulls this season.
“It’s going to be a long trip,” Dwyane Wade said Sunday after the game. “But we’ll try to approach it like we did the first one. We did a lot of team bonding, team building. When it’s just you out there, you have nothing else. We have each other. It’s going to be very challenging, much more so than the first one. You look forward to it. As a basketball player, I know I do, to see how this team responds. It was good to get this win before we head out there, because you go out with a little bit more confidence and continuity.”
Before November’s six-game circus trip, Wade said he’d consider a 3-3 showing a success. They finished that trip with an impressive 4-2 record. He’s holding this second trip to that standard as well.
“I always like that even number,” Wade said. “We’ve got some tough teams on this trip, but I’ll keep it like that. Hopefully it ends up like our last trip.”
Forget the quality of opponent — Sunday was exactly the kind of win the Bulls needed going into the road trip, especially with starting power forward Taj Gibson sidelined with an ankle injury. Six Bulls scored in double figures, including three (Paul Zipser, Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott) off the bench. Rajon Rondo excelled in his newfound role as the maestro of the second unit, finding those shooters open looks. Jimmy Butler got to the foul line 15 times on his way to 28 points.
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“I think the biggest thing tonight was, we played the right way,” head coach Fred Hoiberg said. “We played with great effort, and that’s what it’s about. When you come out with honest effort every single night, we’re going to give ourselves a chance. Not to say that we’re going to win every night, but we’re going to be there. That’s what this group has to do.”
At one point, the Sixers erased Chicago’s entire 20-point first-half lead. But the Bulls, unlike so many times this season, found a way to separate themselves from an inferior opponent and close the game out.
And after this week, it was a step in the right direction.
“It was key,” Rondo said. “The getaway games are big, especially going out on this tough West Coast trip. Going out with that W under your belt gives your team confidence on the long plane ride out.”
Long road trips are often a time for teams to grow closer together. With less media and hangers-on on a daily basis, players let their guard down and bond with each other in ways they can’t at home, when everyone has their own routine to stick to.
Rondo plans to use the time as an intensive film study for the younger players, along with more traditional bonding activities.
“We play cards, eat, talk about the game,” Rondo said. “Watch other games with different players. But we’re talking basketball 24/7. To get them to understand the game, especially the way I think the game, it’s important to get everyone on the same page.”
A respectable showing on the road trip will keep the Bulls in the thick of the playoff race in the east. Then again, you’re never truly out of it.
“It’s so close,” Rondo said. “You have a bad week, you’re out of the playoffs. You have a good week, you’re in the third seed. So it’s just staying even-keeled. Never too high, never too low. We’ve had a rough week off the court, but we have one goal, and that’s to make some runs and make some noise in the playoffs.”
The next two weeks will go a long way in determining how realistic that goal is, but the Bulls are heading into this crucial trip on the right note.