The past two games are a small sample size, but can the Bulls' defense make a significant improvement?
The Chicago Bulls' defense has been the story of their 2025-26 season so far. During the team's 5-0 start, Chicago's 110.3 defensive rating ranked sixth in the NBA, aided by opponents shooting a league-worst 30.1% on three-point attempts.
Since then, that unit has essentially collapsed. The Bulls are now allowing the fifth-most points per game, the third-most points in the paint and the seventh-most offensive rebounds in the league. Those figures are even more dismal when zeroing in on Chicago's last 15 games (4-11 record), in which the Bulls rank second-worst, fourth-worst and fifth-worst in the respective categories.
There is a belief among the team, though, that the Bulls' defense will soon reverse course. Chicago's last six quarters — the back half of the win over the Hornets and the team's loss to the Pelicans — have shown Billy Donovan that there is a path forward for an improved defensive effort.
The Bulls erased a 13-point deficit in Charlotte by boxing the Hornets out and winning the turnover battle. They then held New Orleans to 52 first-half points, three weeks after the Pelicans entered the break with a 74-58 lead. Although Chicago lost the latter game because of a rough shooting performance, Isaac Okoro is confident the small sample size of the team's defensive success is sustainable, as long as the Bulls keep the right mindset.
"Last game was probably the first game in a while that we were locked in defensively and able to hold teams to not a lot of points," Okoro said after a shootaround on Wednesday. "Of course, making shots definitely would've helped us in our last game, but we got shots that we wanted. That's not going to be the case every game, where we miss that many open shots, but if we continue to play defense the way we're playing, I think we'll be in a good position."
Okoro, who earned a reputation as a versatile lockdown defender as a Cavalier, missed the entirety of the Bulls' recent seven-game losing streak with a back injury. He returned against the Hornets, and the 24-year-old wing has liked what he's seen from the team since then, in terms of its defensive effort, energy and communication.
Dec 14, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Isaac Okoro (35) defends against New Orleans Pelicans guard Saddiq Bey (41) during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images"For Sunday's game, I think our defense is what helped us be sustainable," Okoro said. "Previously, teams were just doing whatever they wanted to on offense against us, so it was hard to win games because teams were just scoring at will. We're not going to go out there and try to out-score teams. We have to defend. Sunday's game was a testament to us playing defense and slowing down teams, and now allowing our offense to pick it up. It will pick it up."
In the 114-104 loss to the Pelicans on Sunday, the Bulls converted on just 13 of their 49 three-point attempts, a measly 26.5% success rate. Okoro was just 1-of-8 from deep himself and 2-of-10 overall, but because of their defense, the Bulls were within reach of a victory until late in the fourth quarter. Chicago's 114 points allowed to New Orleans were the third-fewest it had given up in a game during its 4-14 slump.
Donovan and Okoro are betting that those shots will eventually fall, and that if the Bulls' defense can ascend to an acceptable level, they will be able to turn clutch losses into clutch wins. Only time will tell whether a defensive identity-focused team is a reasonable expectation for the Bulls, given the personnel, but Chicago will have a great opportunity to find out against Okoro's former team on Wednesday night.