Taj Gibson Is Big Reason Why Chicago Bulls Are Winning Again

By Chris Peterson @thepackersguru on January 24, 2015

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Taj Gibson has always been an important part of the Chicago Bulls’ rotation. But there have been times this season where he has seen fewer minutes than normal either, because he wasn’t healthy or was sharing minutes with fellow backup forward Nikola Mirotic.

Yet, with the Bulls slumping, Chicago head coach Tom Thibodeau decided to increase Gibson’s minutes in the last five games, and the results, particularly in back-to-back wins on Thursday and Friday night over the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks, are quite telling.

Gibson scored 15 points grabbed nine rebounds and blocked four shots in the win over San Antonio. He followed that up with another solid performance in last night’s four-point triumph over Dallas, scoring another 15 points and notching seven boards.

In his last five outings, Gibson has averaged 37.8 minutes per night and has turned those minutes into an average of 12.8 points per game to go along with eight rebounds. He is also averaging 2.4 blocks and one steal per night, proving that his play on both ends of the floor is as good as ever.

It seems that for the time being the Bulls are moving away from Mirotic. The rookie barely saw the floor last night, which has been a recent trend especially with the increased minutes for Gibson. That doesn’t mean Mirotic can’t play, because he can, and his 3-point shooting will prove valuable to this team down the road.

But at this point, Gibson is simply the more complete player. He is averaging 11.3 points per game on the season and is shooting better than 50 percent from the field. The former USC product is one of the best rebounders and interior defenders in basketball and is a big reason why the Bulls are getting back in the column.

It’s no coincidence that once he got healthy and back to producing at a consistent level that the Bulls started winning again. There will be plenty of time for Mirotic to grow and earn more playing time. But right now, at this critical juncture of the season, it’s time for Thibodeau and the Bulls to keep leaning heavily on Gibson.

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