As the fourth quarter played out for the Chicago Bulls‘ Tuesday night matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the former first-round pick Matas Buzelis was mysteriously absent.
Following the game, Bulls head coach Billy Donovan confirmed the unfortunate reality: Buzelis is dealing with an ankle injury.
The good news is that the initial update suggests that Buzelis’s setback is minor. According to Donovan, Buzelis rolled his ankle, which could be viewed as a sprain. To what degree he sprained it is unclear at this time.
via KC Johnson, CHSN: Billy Donovan said Matas Buzelis, who didn’t play 4th quarter after rolling his ankle, sprained his ankle
When Buzelis left the game, he checked out after 20 minutes of action on the night.
The second-year forward shot 3-9 from the field, 2-5 from three, and hit on three of his four shots from the charity stripe.
Buzelis finished the game with 11 points, five rebounds, and three assists.
The Bulls came up short against the defending champions, losing to the Thunder 116-108. With that loss, the Bulls dropped to 25-37 on the year.
Matas Buzelis Is Dealing With A Setback
GettyMatas Buzelis was absent during the fourth quarter of the Bulls’ loss against the OKC Thunder.
This year, Buzelis has a clean sheet when it comes to health. After debuting his season with the team on October 22, Buzelis hasn’t missed a single game.
Following the Bulls’ recent outing against the Milwaukee Bucks, Buzelis logged his 61st game of the season. This year, he is a full-time starter, seeing the court for 28.6 minutes per game. To compare, he averaged 18.9 minutes of playing time as a rookie.
Buzelis is knocking down shots at a 47% rate from the field this season to produce 15.4 points per game. Outside of his scoring, the young veteran is coming down with 5.5 rebounds per game and producing 2.1 assists per game. Defensively, he’s blocking 1.5 shots per outing.
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During his rookie season, Buzelis missed just one game due to being inactive. His other absence was a DNP-CD, which occurred on November 1, Buzelis’s sixth game of his rookie year.
While he has a strong reputation for remaining healthy in Illinois currently, Buzelis could be facing his first stretch of absences this season, based on how his ankle responds after Tuesday’s loss.
The State Of The Bulls
GettyMatas Buzelis #14 of the Chicago Bulls goes up for a dunk against the Denver Nuggets.
After the trade deadline, it’s clear the Bulls are rebuilding their franchise. Over the summer, the club showed its commitment to Josh Giddey by signing him to a major extension.
The Bulls selected Buzelis with the 11th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft with hopes that he could develop into a cornerstone player for the franchise. So far, Buzelis looks like a valuable player for the future.
During the 2025-2026 NBA season, the young forward is averaging 15.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.1 assists. Buzelis is making 47% of his shots from the field and 36% of his threes.
The 25-37 Bulls will get back out on the court on Thursday night for a road matchup against the Phoenix Suns. Buzelis’s status for the game is unknown.
Bulls Star Dealing With Uncertain Status After Injury vs Thunder