5 Statistics That Are Defining Chicago Bulls' Season so Far

The Chicago Bulls have had their share of successes and failures this season, and a few statistics show it.

The Bulls have fought their way through a barrage of injuries to a 15-9 record. They have struggled against some of the league's better teams, though, and their defense has had some serious lapses so far.

On the other end of the floor, Chicago has fared considerably well.

Derrick Rose, Pau Gasol and Jimmy Butler have provided a huge boost to the offense, pushing the ball and getting easy looks inside. The Bulls' three-point shooting has also become a real weapon now, giving Chicago its best scoring offense in five years.

Stats may not always tell the whole story, but they can make it clearer.

Scoring 102.5 Points Per Game

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Chicago's offseason has paid off tremendously with Gasol, Aaron Brooks and Nikola Mirotic all proving to be outstanding additions.

With Rose also back on the team, the Bulls offense has drastically improved, scoring more than 100 points per game for the first time since the 2008-09 season. Chicago also has its best field-goal percentage (45.5 percent) since Rose's MVP year.

The Bulls have been able to push the ball much more with Rose back. Their 12.4 fast-break points per game ranks them 17th in the league, per TeamRankings.com. It's not spectacular, but it's still a considerable upgrade from last year's 9.5 average (27th in the NBA).

Free-throw shooting has also been a big component of the offense. The Bulls are averaging 27 attempts from the charity stripe every night, converting 76.4 percent of them, for a top-20 performance in the franchise's history.

What has really pushed Chicago over the top, though, is its premier ball movement.

Five players are averaging three-plus assists per game, and 60 percent of the Bulls' field goals are assisted, ranking eighth in the league.

The offense hasn't really hurt the team like in previous years, scoring more than 100 points in 66 percent of its games. It's the defense that has faltered—which is unusual for this Bulls squad.

11 100-Point Games Allowed

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Since Tom Thibodeau's arrival in 2010, the Bulls have had a top-three scoring defense. They have placed first twice, including last year's league-best 91.8 points allowed per game.

This season has been a bit uncharacteristic, though.

Chicago currently ranks 12th in the league, allowing more than 98 points a night. Thibodeau's defense allowed 100-point games 11 times over its first 22 contests, a mark it didn't reach until the halfway point of the season in 2013-14.

The Bulls have also surpassed 100 points in nine of those matches, but seven of their nine losses have still come in this set of games.

These poor defensive performances have been too prevalent, and it's led to Chicago losing a few games against the league's top teams, as well as some poor performances at home.

There is a silver lining in that Chicago is forcing teams to shoot low percentages. Opponents have an effective field-goal percentage of 47, the fifth-best mark in the league. The Bulls are also blocking shots at a high rate with just less than six rejections per game.

4-5 Record Versus Plus-.500 Teams

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The Bulls have looked great this season, but they haven't been able to overcome some of the NBA's elite competition. Their 4-5 record against plus-.500 teams includes losses to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the current NBA leader Golden State Warriors.

Last season, the Bulls were 19-21 against squads over .500, but they were without Rose and had an anemic offense. Injuries have hampered them in 2014-15, but they have a much deeper team and a unit that can score efficiently.

Chicago has struggled at home as well, posting a 4-5 record in the United Center.

The Bulls have allowed 100 points in four of their five home losses. This is probably the bigger concern as they have been one of the better home teams in the Eastern Conference under Thibodeau.

As the Bulls get healthy, both of these records are likely to improve, but injuries are a common theme these days in the Windy City. Chicago has to show up against elite competition whether it is at full strength or not.

Historic Three-Point Shooting

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The Bulls have added three-point shooters over the last couple of years in order to address that dire need. It seems they finally have all the sharpshooters they wanted.

Chicago is on pace to attempt and make the most three-pointers in franchise history while shooting a respectable 35.6 percent. Chicago was just shy of the 35 percent mark last season and took about 3.5 less shots.

Mike Dunleavy, Kirk Hinrich and Brooks are the three best shooters on the team, knocking down at least 38 percent of their long-range attempts. Mirotic has also proved to be a solid stretch 4, even if he does pass up a lot of his open looks.

The only problem in the Bulls' improved outside shooting is Rose. He has the most three-point attempts on the team at 5.6 per game but is only making an abysmal 28 percent of them. Overall efficiency would increase if he limited his shots from downtown.

Still, the Bulls' perimeter shooting is flourishing with the help of its new additions, and once rookie Doug McDermott is healthy and can gain some confidence, Chicago could be deadly from beyond the arc.

One 20-Point Scorer on the Roster

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Chicago hasn't had a player average 20 points since Rose did during the 2011-12 season. Butler has changed that.

The 25-year-old guard has been a revelation for the Bulls. With Rose still shaking off two years of rust and getting back into rhythm, Chicago needed someone to take over the scoring responsibilities.

Butler has posted 20-point games 12 times and has crossed the 30-point threshold twice—the first time he's done it even once throughout his career. A big part of his game is his aggressiveness, as he's getting to the line eight times per contest.

His efficiency has made him a true offensive threat as well. He's shooting a career-high 48 percent; that's the second-best rate on the team behind Taj Gibson (53 percent).

Without Butler's improvement, the Bulls offense could have found itself near the bottom of the league like in past years. He's one of the biggest reasons for Chicago's success and will certainly be a factor in the future.

Stats accurate as of Dec. 17 and courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com unless otherwise stated.