CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The starting point guard job has become a revolving door for the Chicago Bulls as injuries continue to wrack the roster.
Only 14 games after assuming the role, rookie Ayo Dosunmu became the third point guard to be sidelined with an injury in the past month. Dosunmu was placed in concussion protocol Tuesday after a pair of head-on collisions against the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday — first flying into the basket stanchion after being fouled on a dunk, then running into teammate Matt Thomas in the third quarter.
Although Dosunmu was cleared by the Bulls medical team and played Monday against the Phoenix Suns, coach Billy Donovan said the rookie began experiencing concussion symptoms Tuesday morning. Dosunmu did not make the trip to Charlotte for Wednesday night’s game against the Hornets and will remain in concussion protocol until his symptoms subside and the medical team clears him to return.
With Alex Caruso (wrist) and Lonzo Ball (knee) also sidelined until March, Coby White started at point guard Wednesday in a 121-109 win.
Although White finished with only three assists, Donovan noted the growth in his performance — learning when to keep his dribble through the paint rather than taking a contested shot and improving his movement to feed center Nikola Vučević in the post.
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“I think each year I make huge leaps in that department from my rookie year,” White said. “It’s still an ongoing process, but I feel like I’m making leaps and strides in the right direction, so that’s all I can ask for.”
The entire Bulls roster arrived in Charlotte with a keen focus on ball movement after recording only 18 assists on 43 made baskets against the Suns. The Bulls moved the ball more efficiently against the Hornets, led by eight assists from Vučević.
After spending the first half of the season flummoxed by how to fold Vučević into the team dynamic, Wednesday’s game encapsulated how to use him effectively. Vučević operated in the pocket at the top of the paint, flipping balls in and out to spray passes for 3-pointers.
Donovan said Vučević recorded an even higher volume of potential assists, a statistic that tracks when a pass by a player ultimately results in a scoring play, which the Bulls track each game. His agility created a major advantage over the clumsier Mason Plumlee, setting up Vučević to block three shots and score 18 points despite not taking a single 3-pointer.
“We gotta play through Vooch,” forward DeMar DeRozan said. “It relieves a lot of pressure from us trying to pressure the ball so much at the top of the key. When we can play through Vooch like that offensively, we get a lot of open shots, back-door cuts and layups.”
As injuries continue to pile up for the Bulls, so does playing time across the roster. At times this has been an advantage for the Bulls — for instance, Dosunmu’s starting minutes were a critical catalyst for his growth this season. He averaged 6.1 assists and only 1.7 turnovers during his 14-game stint as a starter.
But a lack of personnel also means the Bulls have to give fewer players a higher volume of minutes. That burden almost always falls on the same two sets of shoulders — Zach LaVine and DeRozan.
LaVine muscled through back spasms for two games before finally sitting out last weekend to rest. DeRozan has averaged 39.6 minutes this month, a six-minute jump from his average last season with the San Antonio Spurs.
Both All-Stars have shown their ability to produce. DeRozan scored 36 points against the Hornets, his fourth straight game with 30 or more. LaVine wasn’t far behind with 27 points and five assists.
But playing volume isn’t something Donovan takes lightly at this point in the season.
“It’s something that concerns me,” Donovan said. “I talk to DeMar a lot just to get a gauge of where he’s at physically. At the end of the game, when you’re talking about the accumulation of all those minutes being in the high 30s, it’s something that I’m concerned about.”
While the learning curve of new players becoming the primary ballhandler has been a hurdle for the Bulls, the most evident loss has come on the defensive end. Despite improved energy against the Hornets, the Bulls struggled to contain LaMelo Ball and clamp down on longer rebounds.
Without Caruso and Lonzo Ball, the Bulls have tumbled into the bottom third of the NBA in defensive rating after posting one of the league’s best starts on defense. Wednesday’s win was the first time the Bulls held a team to fewer than 115 points since Jan. 26.
After closing the second quarter on a 21-6 run, the Bulls clinched the game by overcoming a common weakness of loosening their defense in the third quarter. Donovan said he felt the team “got lucky” as the Hornets missed open shots — they finished at 42.6% from the field — but he welcomed the test of his team’s endurance.
“This is kind of the way it is with (the Hornets). They’ve gotten down and they’ve come back,” Donovan said. “We put some possessions together and got some breathing room. The stamina that you have to have — not only against them but the stamina that we want to be able to develop in these games — I think hopefully can help us.”
Besides taking over ballhandling and distribution, Dosunmu took over Caruso’s and Ball’s roles as a perimeter irritator. The rookie was growing into the position, but the lack of depth quickly took its toll on the Bulls, who already struggle to defend the paint because of their lack of size.
Regardless of when Ball and Caruso return, Donovan said his defensive worries will remain until the Bulls prove they can defend teams reliably without their two leaders on the perimeter. The next month and a half will test the team defensively. Missing Dosunmu will only exacerbate those weaknesses.
“I don’t look at it from a personnel standpoint,” Donovan said. “Alex and Lonzo, they’re not going to be here, right? To sit there and say when they get back it’s all going to be solved — they’ve got to do the same thing that the other guys got to do.
“And they’re good at it — don’t get me wrong — but just to sit there and say, ‘OK, these guys are back, their defense is going to be great,’ I don’t believe that. It’s got to be a team thing all the way around.”
