The Chicago Bulls are to their first 3-0 start in four years on the back of an impressive defense. The Bulls have really embodied the spirit of their coach Billy Donovan, a former PG. Through three games, Chicago is second in the NBA with a 69.8% Assist Rate, and have generally made up for the absence of last year's leading-scorer Coby White by trusting the pass. Their "everyone eats" offense can certainly carry them to wins now, but they will need more explosive offensive nights against the elite teams in the league, and White's return will almost certainly help in that regard. But this 3-0 start is all about the defense. 

Chicago started the season without backup center Zach Collins, and as a result, Donovan has started PG Tre Jones in his place, and is also starting offseason addition Isaac Okoro. I mention these two players first in relation to the defense because they mean a fair amount to this hot start.

Jones is leading the NBA in steals heading into Tuesday night at 3.3 steals per game. He leads the Bulls in Defensive Box Plus/Minus, and during games you can see him fight hard to deny post entry passes whenever he gets caught in a mismatch. Jones' pesky defense and ability to generate turnovers has been a huge part of the Bulls start, and he's done that while being a positive on offense.

Okoro has not been a positive on offense. He's been as advertised, shooting 14% from 3-point range and struggling to find his way on offense. But while his offense has been up-and-down, Okoro has been solid defensively. He's second on the Bulls in contests per game--Vucevic is first--on defense, and does a great job making his matchup work hard to get off a good shot. 

The interesting thing about the Bulls great start to the year on defense is that while Jones is generating a ton of turnovers, they aren't turning over opponents a lot as a unit. Through three games the Bulls are second in the NBA in Defensive Rating (104.4) but 20th in steals and 15th in blocks.

Chicago's defensive success has come from keeping opponents off the free throw line (12th in opp. FTA per game), gang rebounding (6th in Defensive Rebound Rate at 73.1%, nine players averaging at least 3 RPG), and holding opponents to 26.3% shooting from 3-point range, the best mark in the league.

It is reasonable to question if the Bulls great Defensive Rating is a bit smoke-and-mirrors considering they played arguably the worst shooting team in the league in the Orlando Magic--who made three 3-pt FGs as a team in their loss to the Bulls--and that it is clearly not sustainable to hold opponents to that poor of a shooting figure. But, conversely, it is quite possible that the Bulls continue to defend without fouling at a heinous rate, and they appear to be committed to crashing the defensive glass as a unit to close out possessions, led by the immense efforts of Giddey and Vucevic in that department.

In the Bulls Monday night win over the Atlanta Hawks, Giddey and Vucevic combined for 30 of Chicago's 51 rebounds to lead a dominate effort on the glass. 

After a 3-0 start, with the vibes high, I'm still not willing to jump ahead and call the Bulls a juggernaut of some sort. But I do buy that the way this team is playing on the defensive side of the ball is sustainable. Eventually, opponents will start to hit their 3-pointers. But Chicago is also at the top of the league in opponent's 3-point attempts through three regular season contests. If the Bulls can chase opponent's off the 3-point line and generally contest shots without fouling, they put themselves in a great position to win considering that their great defensive rebounding limits opponents 2nd chance points. I'm not sure if the Bulls are a legit playoff team, but I'm positive they are a team that is going to play fast, and play hard on defense every night. And that is a big step in the right direction for a franchise building around young talent. 

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