The Bulls are almost back to full health now that guard Zach LaVine and center Nikola Vucevic have returned, with both contributing off the bench in Friday night’s win over the Hornets.
Although the Bulls lost their previous two games on the road against the Knicks and 76ers, they went 10-7 in the 17 games that LaVine missed with a foot issue. They also moved the ball better and played with more purpose in that span, ranking fifth in the NBA with 298.1 passes per game, first in secondary assists (4.7) and 13th in potential assists (46.4).
Now, it’s about getting LaVine back in the mix. But coach Billy Donovan said he doesn’t want guard Coby White, who averaged 22.4 points in LaVine’s absence, to change his game.
“I think that Coby needs to continue doing what he’s doing,” Donovan said. “Certainly, the ball is in his hands quite a bit, and he needs to continue to be aggressive and do the things he’s been doing. I wouldn’t want him to change the way he’s playing or feel like he has to. There’s been no conversations from me about, ‘Hey, you know, we’re getting Zach back or [Vucevic] back, and you have to change and go do this.’ ”
The challenge for Donovan will be divvying up minutes. He only has a certain amount to dish out, and White, guard Ayo Dosunmu and forward Patrick Williams have been playing well.
“When you have players that are coming back, the minutes for certain guys could change, but it doesn’t mean [that] I want [the younger players] doing anything differently,” Donovan said. “We need to continue to do things, quite honestly, that we’ve been working on to try to get better at since the season started.”
Vooch: The more the merrier
The injury bug plagued the Bulls for a while, with LaVine out all of December, Vucevic missing five games with a groin injury and veteran forward Torrey Craig still out several more weeks with a foot injury. Forward DeMar DeRozan and White were second and third, respectively, in minutes in December. Getting players back will give them some relief.
“[It’s about] having more bodies, since the last couple of games have not been easy for guys having to play a lot of minutes, and just bringing positive energy,” Vucevic said at Friday’s shootaround. “Hopefully we can help the team and play better and just continue to elevate our game as a team.”
The Bulls missed Vucevic’s ability to operate from the elbow and spray passes to cutters or operate in dribble handoffs. They also missed LaVine’s scoring. Vucevic said getting LaVine back will open up more space in the offense. The Bulls are currently 25th in offensive rating.
“When Zach plays decisive, whether he’s getting downhill, shooting or whatever it is, it helps everybody so much,” Vucevic said. “So we just need him to be himself, be aggressive, and it obviously will probably take him a few games to get back into rhythm. He missed some time, but we just need him to be Zach, and it’s on us to make sure we all work with him.”
Donovan said LaVine and Vucevic would play in six-minute bursts off the bench as they ease back in.
Sitting out and stepping up
Guard Alex Caruso (neck) was out Friday, as was Williams (ankle). Guard/forward Dalen Terry got the first start of his career.
