Getty Billy Donovan
The Chicago Bulls roster is being ravaged by COVID-19. After Ayo Dosunmu and Stanley Johnson were added to health and safety protocols, the team now has 7 players on the list. NBC Sports’ Rob Schaefer was asked by a fan when the NBA might step in to postpone games.
Schaefer doesn’t think the league will do that, but as he mentions in his response, the concept makes sense: “Short of Bulls falling under 8-available-player minimum to field an NBA team, I’d be surprised to see game(s) postponed. Not saying it’s right, just my feeling. But this is clearly out of hand.”
The Bulls need help in a major way after being blown out for the second consecutive game. On Saturday night, the Miami Heat–who were playing without Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo–defeated the Bulls 118-92.
Who Started the Game Vs. Miami Heat?
PG – Lonzo Ball
After starting the game on fire from three-point range, Ball began to struggle finding his range. He resorted to a number of step-back threes, of which he’s struggled to make all season (22%).
Still, Ball finished the game with a respectable 15 points on just 5-for-15 shooting and 4-for-12 from three-point range.
SG – Zach LaVine
He did everything he could, but he couldn’t save the Bulls from this loss. LaVine led all scorers with 33 points on 11-for-20 shooting and he made 7 of 11 three-point attempts. He also grabbed 7 rebounds and had 4 assists. LaVine also took on the challenge of guarding Tyler Herro. It just wasn’t enough.
SF – Alex Caruso
Despite his ailing hamstring, the defensive captain returned to the lineup. He wasn’t played for long stretches at a time, and he still made an impact defensively with 1 steal and several smart plays in 27 minutes. He finished with 6 pts, 1 rebound and 5 assists. Caruso also had the best +/- of any starter at -6.
PF/SF – Troy Brown
He got his first start as a Bull and wasn’t horrible, although TBJ struggled to make a major impact. He scored 10 points on 4-for-11 shooting which included 0-for-3 from long range. He played solid defense while grabbing 4 rebounds and collecting 4 assists.
C – Nikola Vucevic
If you’re looking for the player to blame in this one, it is Vucevic. Despite being matched up against a backup center in Dewayne Dedmon, Vooch was severely outplayed. Take a look at NBC Sports’ Rob Schaefer’s tweet, it says it all.
Nikola Vucevic exits as Bulls are getting blown out late.
He scored 10 points on 3-15 FGs (1-4 on 3s) with 8 rebounds. He was outplayed by Dewayne Dedmon, who had 18 points on 7-12 FGs and 11 rebounds when Vucevic exited. Dedmon just made another bucket too to get to 20 points.
Quite obviously, Vucevic has to be better, and based on his comments after the game, it appears he’s aware he must improve.
Nikola Vucevic said he’s “never been through a slump like this,” and that the only option is to work his way out of it
Said he takes a lot of pride, puts work in, but tough to not be helping team win
Which Player Should Be Back First?
There are no certainties when dealing with the health and safety protocols, but Coby White has been out of action for 10 days since originally testing positive. Assuming he can deliver two negative tests over a 24-hour period and pass the requisite cardiac test, he could be back as soon as the team’s next game, which is a home game on December 14 against the NBA’s worst team, the Detroit Pistons.
Perhaps things are looking up for the Bulls.
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