Billy Donovan Calls Out ‘Unbelievable’ Sleeper in Bulls’ Win Over Hornets

Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan offered praise willingly following the Bulls’ 123-110 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday for their third straight victory, the longest winning streak for Chicago (7-8) in nearly two years.

Despite Donovan’s generosity in applauding his team that’s beginning to see the benefits of buying in, his praise wasn’t cheap.

The regular stars go theirs. Zach LaVine led Chicago with 25 points, nine assists, six rebounds and two turnovers. Lauri Markkanen chipped in 23 while Coby White tallied 18 points, eight assists and only two turnovers.

But beyond the box score, one bench contributor received unprompted praise in Donovan’s postgame press conference.

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Ryan Arcidiacono Makes a Difference on the Sidelines

In Donovan’s rounds of praising his players, Ryan Arcidiacono, who didn’t play on Friday due to Donovan wanting to work in Tomas Satoransky, who is coming back from COVID-19 quarantine, was a player Donovan took the opportunity to lift without question.

“Arch was unbelievable on the bench tonight. People don’t even see it. the guy was incredible. He had two games against Houston and Dallas that I felt like he was very, very instrumental in helping us win. And he doesn’t even get in the game tonight,” Donovan said. “I elected to go with Sato to see what he looked like. But Arch is like in it. And we’re going to need that because we’re all going to have to understand that not everybody is going to be able to play the amount of minutes they want. That’s why we have a roster, to keep everybody ready and everybody’s got to contribute. But whatever happens here, we’re going to need to keep everybody as ready as possible.”

Arcidiacono played 17 minutes in each of the Bulls’ past wins against the Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks. Arcidiacono posted 6.5 points per game, 3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and a 12.5 plus-minus as the second unit’s facilitator. He also sank 4 of 7 3-pointers between the two games.

Chicago is approaching having a healthy roster for the first time this season after Arcidiacono, Markkanen, Satoranski and Chandler Hutchinson were all quarantined earlier this season under NBA COVID-19 protocols.

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Bulls Embracing Team-Oriented Approach

While turnovers have been a bane to the Bulls’ season so far, Friday’s win over the Hornets was evidence of the commitment to Donovan’s motion offense and the payoff of sharing the ball. Chicago tallied 33 assists in the win, one shy of a season high.

LaVine and White’s progression as distributors showed as neither player needed to shoot the lights out to keep the Bulls in the driver’s seat. They’ve begun to read how the game is coming to them and adjusting to find the best option on offense.

Chicago is creeping up on owning a .500 record for the first time since March 2, 2017. The Bulls have a chance to improve to 8-8 on Saturday but will need to get past Lebron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.

The last time the two teams met on Jan. 8, the Lakers closed out a 117-115 win without Anthony Davis in a game Chicago felt it should have won.

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