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Since the return of Nikola Mirotic the Chicago Bulls have been undefeated. Sure, it's only been 6 games, but after absolutely falling apart this summer nobody expected the Bulls to win 2 in a row, much less 6. The Bulls have a remarkable record of 9-20, and boast the league's worst offensive rating, while sitting at 18th on defense. But in these last 6 games they've looked, well, not that bad.
Before the start of the season a story broke that Nikola Mirotic and Bobby Portis had a... disagreement. One that ended with Nikola Mirotic heading to the hospital with a concussion and a facial fracture after Portis punched him in the face. Maybe it was part of some new team building experiment we don't know about. Kind of like trust falls but instead you close your eyes and let a friend punch you in the nose. Whatever the exercise, it may have been worth the recovery time. Since returning Mirotic is putting up 20.3 points and 7.3 rebounds on 51% shooting, including 50% from beyond the arc. By this logic maybe Westbrook just needs to sucker punch Carmelo Anthony, or Thibs could could kick the T-Wolves between their collective legs to inspire some defense.
While Nikola Mirotic works on getting his jersey retired in Chicago, Chris Dunn, rookie Lauri Markanen and Bobby Portis haven't been terrible themselves. Maybe Fred Hoiberg isn't awful either. In this stretch he's done a great job of coaching this young team to wins over opponents like the Sixers, Bucks and even the dominant Celtics. Sure, this streak is going to end, probably sooner than later, but in the meantime Bulls fans can enjoy the glimmer of hope their young guys have shown and look to the future. While looking at that future they'll be sure to notice that winning streaks like this can be the difference between picking 1st and 3rd or even 6th in the draft. Luckily (but not) for them this is just an anomaly, Mirotic should slow down and the Bulls will go back to losing. They're not a good basketball team, and at the end of the day this is just another fun NBA story. The league is more entertaining when the Bulls are good, and the best way there is through the draft, so good luck guys. Try not to win too many.
Edit: Cameron Payne > Chris Dunn