PHILADELPHIA — Chicago Bulls forward Derrick Jones Jr. didn’t have any doubt in his mind.
When Philadelphia 76ers guard James Harden attempted to wriggle past Bulls forward Patrick Williams, Jones had already drifted into the paint, waiting to pounce on the shot that was sure to come with 14 seconds left in the second overtime Monday.
If Harden attempted to throw down a dunk, Jones knew he might be forced to foul. But instead Harden opted for a lay-in, letting the ball roll gently off his fingers. It was a mistake — and one Jones celebrated: “I’m glad he did.”
The ball barely had time to begin its trajectory toward the rim before Jones crushed it away, his left palm slapping the leather to fend off one of the 76ers’ last gasps.
Jones was not the obvious first — or second or third — candidate to save a 109-105 double-overtime win over the third-place team in the Eastern Conference. He logged less than three minutes in each of the previous two games against the Miami Heat and Minnesota Timberwolves and didn’t play at all in six of the 11 games before that, a steep drop-off from averaging 18.5 minutes per game in January.
But on Monday, it wasn’t Joel Embiid or DeMar DeRozan or Zach LaVine who clinched the final result. It was Jones, who produced 10 points, three rebounds and the game-sealing block after weeks of scraping minutes off the bench.
“I just stay ready,” Jones said. “I went out there and gave it everything I got. If you lay the ball up, nine times out of 10, I’m going to go get it.”
Jones’ impactful performance reinforced a favorite adage among bench players: “Stay ready so you don’t have to get ready.” But it also underlined the necessity of flexibility for the Bulls in the final stretch of the season.
A constantly shifting game plan has been the core of the Bulls’ 8-4 run since the All-Star break. They have the NBA’s fifth-best record in that span and the league’s best defensive rating. At the heart of that defense has been an adaptability installed by coach Billy Donovan.
It was visible in Philadelphia as the Bulls attempted to slow Embiid amid a monster month of offensive production. Donovan shifted the rotations to keep Nikola Vučević from fully matching minutes with Embiid, which he knew would tire the Bulls center unnecessarily while forcing them into other defensive mismatches.
At the end of the fourth quarter, Donovan began throwing Jones and Javonte Green at Embiid to create offensive frustration, preventing him from finding 76ers teammates comfortably.
Chicago Tribune Sports
Weekdays
A daily sports newsletter delivered to your inbox for your morning commute.
These rotations require patience from players. Williams will shift in and out of the starting lineup based on the size constraints of a given opponent. Center Andre Drummond can log a 10-rebound night, then sit the next game as the Bulls shift to small ball.
DeRozan said the Bulls have bolstered their confidence with the effectiveness of their defensive game plans, which in turn spurs players into a higher level of rigor on the court.
“It’s Coach’s game plan,” DeRozan said. “We’re just locking in to what needs to be done. We’re helping each other, we’re playing on a string together and it’s been working well.”
This hasn’t been a perfect process. The offense has improved — from 24th in the league before the All-Star break to seventh since — but still struggles with stalling out in the final minutes of clutch games. The Bulls sit three games below .500 and haven’t stitched together more than three consecutive wins.
With 11 games left and a two-game advantage for the last spot in the play-in tournament, the Bulls have little margin for error.
“I don’t want to say we’ve figured anything out,” Donovan said. “Anytime you feel like you figured something out, you lose an opportunity to grow.”
But if the Bulls remain defensively malleable, they could become difficult to displace from a postseason position.
