Stats prove the Chicago Bulls are among the worst first-quarter teams in the NBA

Despite playing through the second-hardest strength of schedule and dealing with injuries to their key players, the Chicago Bulls are right they were supposed to be, sitting 11th in the East with a 6-8 record. Had it not been for their first-quarter issues, they'd be doing even better fourteen games into the season.

Bad first-quarter defense

The Bulls have made a bad habit of falling behind early. Zach LaVine talked about it after the 114-109 home loss against the 76ers on October 29.

“When you’re down, you’re fighting for your life to get back into the game. We need to come out that way. These first games, that’s been our MO. We’re getting down on the first unit. The second unit usually comes in and saves our ass,” LaVine said.

The Bulls allow 116.3 points per 100 possessions over 14 first quarters this season, per NBA.com; the ninth-worst mark in the league. In seven of those, they've allowed a ridiculous 131.1 points per 100 possessions. They also rank 20th in the league, allowing 29.5 points in the first quarter.

Another big factor is unsustainably hot three-point shooting. Bulls’ opponents are shooting 46 percent from three-point range (28th in the NBA) in 14 first quarters this season -- they give up 8.9 attempts from beyond the arc in the first quarter (18th in the NBA).

The end of games

The Bulls had the second-best fourth-quarter offensive rating in the league at 116.7 last year. This season the sample size is small, but the Bulls have a poor 98.3 offensive rating in the fourth quarter (28th in the league).

Some natural regression will come and help the Bulls, but they have to improve their execution at the start and end of games. Not having Lonzo Ball hurts a lot and LaVine is still not 100 percent coming off left knee surgery, but they can’t use this as an excuse if they keep struggling.