So much for an easy win. Bulls' improvement bad news for Jazz

Chicago • The NBA is a funny and fickle league.

The Chicago Bulls looked like an easy win for the Utah Jazz as recently as a week ago. A sure thing. The Bulls were reeling, having lost 20 of their first 23 games and struggling on both ends of the floor. They were one of the punchlines of the league. Losing to Chicago was an embarrassing proposition.

The Bulls now look like anything but a pushover as the Jazz head to the United Center to match up with the team they blew out just before Thanksgiving at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Chicago playing its best basketball of the season, winners of three straight. The Bulls are moving the basketball with vigor and poise. They are making shots and playing with an energy that hadn’t been present.

“I think it’s about chemistry,” Chicago guard Kris Dunn said. “Guys are starting to learn how each other plays. I think we’re feeding off each other. We’re playing with more toughness and more grit. It’s helped us play better overall.”

What’s changed for the Bulls? An obvious answer is they regained the services of Nikola Mirotic, the scoring power forward who missed the first two months of the season when teammate Bobby Portis broke bones in his face in a practice fight. He’s been back for three games and the Bulls have won all three.

Here’s the irony: Mirotic and Portis obviously don’t like each other. Mirotic even refused to talk to Portis following their altercation, according to reports. But they may be Chicago’s best frontcourt duo. Both can shoot the ball. Both can do things off the dribble, creating for themselves and others. Both are interchangeable between power forward and center, which creates mismatches for defenses.

The two combined for 47 points and 12 rebounds in a 108-85 win Monday night over the Boston Celtics. The Celtics didn’t have Kyrie Irving and they were playing the tail end of a back-to-back, but the Bulls were impressive. Chicago took control from the outset and refusing to relinquish it, even when the Eastern Conference-leading Celtics made a run in the second half.

This all means the Jazz will have a lot of work ahead of them. The Bulls looked like the only likely win for the Jazz on their current road trip before this week. Utah heads to Boston and Cleveland, with Houston and Oklahoma City following after playing in Chicago. The Bulls now present a daunting task for a Jazz team that’s lost three consecutive games.

“The Jazz are a really good team,” Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. “They’ve lost a few in a row, but before that they were playing as well as any team in the league. They’ve had three days off to prepare for this game, but it’s a tough matchup and we need to make sure we’re sharp.”

Even when they weren’t winning games, the Bulls weren’t as bad as their record. Kris Dunn and Justin Holiday give them a spry and athletic backcourt, one that can get to the basket and apply defensive pressure even if they aren’t the best shooters. Denzel Valentine has improved rapidly in his second season and plays a lot like Joe Ingles does for the Jazz. He does a little of everything on the floor. Robin Lopez always has been underrated on the interior. Portis is playing the best basketball of his young career and has given Chicago depth.

The good news for the Jazz is they may get back shooting guard Rodney Hood from injury. And Joe Johnson may return soon as well. But for Utah, a Bulls resurgence isn’t exactly good news.

The Jazz are going to have to play very well to win Wednesday night in Chicago. But that’s been their reality in the midst of a brutal December schedule.