LOS ANGELES – Tony Brothers must be well-versed in Serbian.
And not the good words, either.
With 1:02 left in the first half of Sunday’s eventual huge win over the Lakers, Nikola Vucevic was hit with the technical foul from referee Sean Corbin. The Bulls big man obviously wasn’t happy, was venting to the bench, and then turned and said something back towards the court, with Brothers quickly hitting him with the second technical and instant ejection.
Here’s the thing about Vucevic, however: When he swears or gets angry in a game, he only talks in Serbian for that very reason.
He insisted afterwards that was the case once again.
Brothers must have a solid collection of Rosetta Stone, because he reacted like a guy that knew exactly what Vucevic said.
Either way, Vucevic took full responsibility, apologizing to his teammates.
“It was a bad decision by me to react the way I did,’’ Vucevic said. “In a game as important as it was for us I’ve got to be better, control my emotions in the moment. My mistake. My teammates came through once again for us. Makes me feel less bad about myself.’’
He was, however, surprised he did get hit with the second technical so quickly, and from a different official.
“Usually there is that little cool-off period, if you want to call it that,’’ Vucevic said. “It is what it is. I overreacted for sure.’’
That also allowed Andre Drummond to ride in on the white horse, and give the Bulls some valuable minutes in the middle with Vucevic gone. Drummond finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, as well as having Patrick Beverley in his ear the entire time.
“You gotta give Drummond a lot of credit,’’ Beverley said. “He responded. We come in waves, we’re about 10, 11 deep, and everyone was poised. It was a team win.
“I’m tough as [bleep] on Drummond because I know his potential. He’s an All-Star for a reason. My [talk] was, ‘Job not finished … keep going, keep going, we’ll talk after the game.’ He did what he was supposed to do. Fortunate to have a big like that coming off the bench.’’
Get used to it
Alex Caruso is no stranger to appearing on the daily injury report.
That’s good because it now sounds like the two are about to reach a tentative agreement for the remainder of the season.
According to coach Billy Donovan, Caruso’s left mid-foot sprain isn’t going to improve until the Bulls are done playing basketball for the season, and he can give it the proper rest it needs. That means daily managing of the injury and a lot of uncertainty from game to game.
“It’s probably going to be something we’re going to have to deal with the entire year,’’ Donovan said. “Sometimes he gets it to a place where it gets pretty sore and it’s hard for him to move. Then he gets time [off] and it does down and gets better.’’
Two steps back
It appeared that the Bulls would have another key wing defender for the stretch run when they finally got Javonte Green back from a January right knee surgery.
Now, there are questions on if the rest of the season could be in jeopardy for Green.
After returning for the Philadelphia game last week, Green played just under nine minutes, and then came back two nights later to again face the 76ers off the bench.
But the knee soreness that has cost him most of the second half showed itself once again, forcing him back into street clothes for this West Coast trip.
Donovan did acknowledge it as a setback, and couldn’t say when or if Green would be back.
