The Chicago Bulls not only lost to the Miami Heat by 18 points on Tuesday night, but they also broke a franchise record that has stood since Michael Jordan’s rookie season with the team.
That record is highest field goal percentage allowed in a game, as the Bulls allowed the Heat to make 67.5 percent of their shots in the game. That mark narrowly beats the previous record, when the Bulls allowed a 67.1 percent success rate to the Portland Trail Blazers during a game on Nov. 24, 1984.
The Bulls’ previous high in the category this season was a 53.6 percent success rate, which the Los Angeles Clippers reached in late January.
The Bulls also made matters worse in a number of ways. Their defense allowed an opponent to score 100 or more points for the 14th straight game, which they haven’t done in 30 years. They also dropped to 30-29 on the season, and fell out of a playoff spot as they now trail the Detroit Pistons by half a game in the Eastern Conference standings.
For Bulls fans searching through the rubble for good news after Tuesday’s calamitous game, take heart: Derrick Rose continued his recent surge, as he scored 17 points in the game, and Jimmy Butler is drawing closer to a return to the lineup.