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Bulls Finding Success When Valuing Ball Movement

By Cody Westerlund-- 

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Through the season's first seven games, an early trend has emerged for the Bulls, signaling the end result of each night.

When they're shared the ball well, they've been good and won. When the ball movement has stagnated for stretches, they've lost.

On Monday at the United Center, the Bulls kept the ball hopping in an easy 112-80 win against the Magic. They had 26 assists, moving to 4-0 when they've hit the 25-assist mark, a statistic offset by an 0-3 mark when they haven't.

See, isn't basketball easy?

"When we value the possession, good things happen," coach Fred Hoiberg said.

While the Magic have been poor defensively in the season's early going, so much that's worth reading into at this stage for the Bulls is what they're doing internally within their offensive system. For the most part, they've found success, ranking as a top-three offense in efficiency entering Monday, a number bound to hold strong after a dominant performance. And they've been at their best when sharing the ball in spades, as they did so often against the Magic.

One sequence that stood out Monday was All-Star wing Jimmy Butler drawing two defenders in transition and finding Isaiah Canaan in the left corner for a 3-pointer. It symbolized everything Hoiberg preaches – pushing the ball with pace, scrambling the defense, a shooter filling his role at a mathematically efficient spot on the floor and a star drawing multiple defenders and making the easy, unselfish decision.

"I don't know why they leave him open," Butler joked. "I wish they'd leave me open like that.

"It's a lot of sharing the ball, being in the right place, knowing the plays.

"Whenever you're out there and wanting to do right, you're always end up in the right place."

Butler didn't shoot well Monday, going 5-of-13 on field goals, but he still spearheaded the offense, with 20 points, five rebounds and seven assists. He went 10-for-10 at the free-throw line, forcefully getting to the hoop to draw the defense's attention and kicking the ball out when the occasion called for it.

It's that sort of decision-making that's drawn the notice of Butler's teammates too.

"Just being more aware when driving to the basket," Doug McDermott said. "He's so used to drawing fouls and getting to the line. Now he's starting to see a lot of defenses collapse on him. He's getting on his shooters to be in the right spot. That' something we're working on every day, being able to give him an outlet for an open shot."

The Bulls improved to 4-3 with Monday's win as a two-game road trip awaits against the Hawks and Heat. Chicago is now 3-1 at home, and veteran Dwyane Wade – he a voice of reason, always and forever – shared a new goal for the Bulls.

"You want to figure out a way to be at least .500 on the road," said Wade, who had 16 points. "Then you want to take care of home.

"That's the thing we're preaching. You don't have to win every game on the road. You don't have to win every game at home, but you got to win most of them at home. You got to play .500 on the road. That can end up on getting you around 48 to 50 victories throughout the season, if you play the right way."

Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for CBSChicago.com and coversthe Bulls. He's also the co-host of the @LockedOnBulls podcast, which you can subscribe to on iTunes and Stitcher. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.

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