Chicago Bulls' Home-Court Struggles Reflect Their Larger Problems

CHICAGO — Nobody knows why the Bulls cannot protect their home floor.

Saturday night’s 107-99 loss to the Atlanta Hawks was their fifth loss in seven games, dropping their home record to 12-10 on the season, as compared to 15-5 on the road. And nobody in the Bulls locker room can put his finger on why.

“I have no idea,” Derrick Rose said, stifling a laugh of exasperation at the Bulls’ continued struggles at home. “Who knows? If I had the answer, I wish I could tell you. Who knows? It’s just something we have to figure out. It’s frustrating starting off games and losing games like this.”

Some of the home losses are understandable. The Hawks are playing better basketball than anyone in the NBA at the moment. Every player on the floor is a threat to score, and the difference in level of execution between the two teams was vast. The Hawks simply don’t make mistakes at either end of the floor.

But the list of teams the Bulls have lost to at home has some names that should, and do, concern everybody. The Indiana Pacers, Boston Celtics, Utah Jazz, Orlando Magic and Brooklyn Nets are all teams that have come into the United Center this season and won. The Bulls have lost their last three home games and four of their last five.

“People get extra excited to play here,” said Pau Gasol. “We haven’t really played our best on our court. I can’t really pinpoint why we’re not as successful at home.”

In a battle for position atop the Eastern Conference, the Bulls, once seen as the favorites, have fallen behind the pack. The Hawks have separated themselves, but the Bulls now sit at fourth in the conference. The Washington Wizards have defeated them twice this month, and the Toronto Raptors just got DeMar DeRozan back after a 21-game absence.

And that’s to say nothing of the Cleveland Cavaliers, now with LeBron James back in the lineup and playing much-improved basketball over the last two games. They’re next up for the Bulls, who badly need a win against a good team.

“Losing five out of seven is concerning,” said Gasol. “And the schedule coming up doesn’t get any easier.”

Gasol is right—the Bulls will have their work cut out for them until the All-Star break. They travel to Cleveland on Monday to face the Cavs, and their next home game is Thursday against the defending champion San Antonio Spurs, fresh off Kawhi Leonard’s return to the lineup. From there, they face the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat before going on a six-game road trip that includes the Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns and Houston Rockets.

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It’s not a great time to be short-handed. The Bulls on Saturday were without two starters, Joakim Noah and Mike Dunleavy, and it’s unclear when either will be back.

“We’re down guys,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Our margin for error is very small right now."

But health alone can’t account for the mental lapses the Bulls have been making, particularly on the defensive end. They’ve started games lackadaisically, losing five of their last seven first quarters.

“They got us in the first quarter,” Thibodeau said of the loss to the Hawks, although he could have been talking about any of the games the Bulls have played lately. “We were chasing them the rest of the way and they played with a lead.”

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Chicago's players have been saying for a while now that these issues of focus are fixable, but for every step forward (the first half against the Wizards on Wednesday and the second half of Saturday’s loss), they've seen these issues reappear soon after. 

“We can score the ball,” said Jimmy Butler. “So we rely on that a little bit too much instead of doing what we’re known for, which is guarding. We’ve definitely got to learn how to get stops. We’re going to score enough points to win games, but our defense isn’t up to par.”

Every bad loss has had the opportunity to be a wake-up call. Following Monday’s embarrassing loss to the Magic, the Bulls had a productive practice that left everybody feeling sharp and focused—after which they promptly lost again, to the Wizards. Saturday’s game against the Hawks provided a glimpse of the level at which the Bulls will have to play if their title hopes are serious. Maybe that will be enough.

“It’s correctable,” said Butler. “Everybody’s saying we know what we have to do, but we can’t keep talking about it. At a certain point we have to go out there and get it done.”

At the halfway point of the season, every other playoff team is figuring out what they are and how good they can be. It’s time for the Bulls to do the same. And it starts at home.

Sean Highkin covers the Chicago Bulls for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @highkin