3 takeaways after the Chicago Bulls throttled the Brooklyn Nets

The Monday after Thanksgiving is often considered one of the most difficult days of the year to go back to work. The Brooklyn Nets would certainly agree. The Chicago Bulls ran them off the field tonight, winning by a margin of 128-102.

To be fair, Brooklyn played this game as the second half of a back-to-back sequence, facing an Orlando Magic team known for its physicality before flying to Chi-Town. They also entered the competition with four regular starters inactive. It’s much harder to fight the hangover you had this morning – whether it was caused by a turkey or not.

Aside from the apologies and the knowledge that games like this would happen at some point, Nets fans will probably want to forget this game. But before we burn the tape, here’s one last look.

Nets have something with their backup PG duo

It’s been a slow but steady climb into the rotation for Shake Milton this season. In his first eleven appearances, he averaged just 9.5 minutes per game and scored three DNPs. In the last six minutes, his average was 26.6 minutes. With every opportunity he has made a better case for getting more out of it, and tonight he delivered perhaps his most compelling performance.

Shake finished the game with 14 points, five assists, six rebounds, one block and one steal. Before things got out of hand in the third quarter, he was 8/5/1 on 3-of-7 shooting. Few of these points were easy for me, which made them all the more impressive.

Milton, 28, was acquired from the Knicks in a sign-and-trade that was part of the Mikal Bridges trade. He has a three-year contract, only the first year of which is guaranteed.

But he wasn’t the only one of Schröder’s students who caused a stir tonight. Keon Johnson didn’t have an impressive night in the box night, but was once again effective from an eye test perspective, moving around the defense like a snake through water to keep the defense off balance and get open looks.

He also finished some of those sequences himself, going 2-for-6 from deep tonight.

For a long time it was thought that Brooklyn’s only options this year would be Dennis Schröder, Ben Simmons and maybe a dash of Cam Thomas if his game developed accordingly. But with both of them out due to injuries and Simmons being more of a part of the center rotation than point guard anyway, that’s no longer the case.

The results didn’t blow us away. If anything, they’re more like a cool breeze – pleasant to experience, but not much to complain about, especially after such an ugly loss. However, the combination of Milton and Johnson behind Schröder has proven successful, even if Dennis remains the most important player on offense.

Dariq Whitehead is making progress

All eyes were on Day’Ron Sharpe, who made his season debut tonight, but of Brooklyn’s young players, Dariq Whitehead deserved more attention.

A career 32.6 percent shooter from deep in the G League, his shooting has been as worrisome as his ability to create separation on the ball during his run-up and development over the last two years. In his last appearance on Long Island on Sunday, he shot 6 of 12 goals from long range, but remained on the bench in Brooklyn’s last three games.

It didn’t take long enough for ice to form around him – even with the Nets stationed up north in the Windy City. Whitehead torched the Bulls from deep tonight, shooting 6 of 10 from downtown and finishing with a team-high 18 points…

At no point did Whitehead’s inefficiencies in the G League affect his shooting profile. With primary ballplayers Johnson, Schröder and Milton all playing 29 or more minutes tonight, he spent much of his evening loitering around the field as a ground defender, dragging it uninhibitedly when called upon…

At 20 years, 123 days old, the Duke product became the youngest player in team history to hit six triples in a game. As this was Whitehead’s fifth appearance at the NBA level, he also became the first player in franchise history to make four or more three-pointers in a game in the first five games of his NBA career.

For those of you trying to walk the line between fueling and rooting for good basketball, this excursion from Whitehead will give you some extra support. Brooklyn got a good contribution from one of their youngest players and still suffered a loss that will improve their lottery chances. Check and check.

We are running out of excuses to relax

With Sharpe’s return tonight came the expectation that Brooklyn could improve on its worst rebounding rate in the league. Sure, the combined absences of Ben Simmons and Dorian Finney-Smith were a factor. But if your hungriest glass eater is back in the game, that should be a good sign for you, right?

Incorrect. While the Nets had no shortage of statistical disadvantages tonight, their -13 differential on the boards was perhaps the most disappointing. While the Nets are considered the worst rebounding team in the league, the Bulls are also in the bottom ten in board percentage, putting them within reach of bottom.

Unfortunately, Josh Giddey had more than anyone else in Brooklyn tonight with 13 rebounds. Nikola Vucevic outshot Claxton 10 to 8. Sharpe only pulled down one.

It was also Sharpe’s first game back. He also only played 16 minutes. The networks Also missed four of their other leading rebounders of the year: Ziaire Williams and Cameron Johnson joined Simmons and Finney-Smith in street clothes. This is all heard and understood.

But the point is: Even if the Nets have some excuse for their poor rebounding, this is the beginning of the end. While rebounding is a team effort, especially for a team that moves as often as the Nets, it all still starts with the big ones. Brooklyns are now back and need to find their appetite for glass.