CHICAGO _ Contrary to some cynical thinking, the Bulls' season didn't end last week when, in the span of 24 hours, the trade deadline came and went and so did Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson and Tom Thibodeau.
No, there's still basketball to be played, most of its importance centered on Lauri Markkanen, Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and Ping-Pong balls.
With Dunn still sidelined by his Jan. 17 concussion and the Magic showing how to really load the draft lottery hopper, Markkanen and LaVine were left to steal the spotlight in the Bulls' 105-101 victory Monday night at the United Center.
Markkanen posted his first 20-point game since his 33-point explosion on Jan. 10 at Madison Square Garden, routinely posting up smaller players to finish with 21 points.
And LaVine helped the Bulls avoid blowing an 18-point, fourth-quarter lead by stealing Jonathon Simmons' inbounds pass to Shelvin Mack and breaking away for a dunk with 12.4 seconds remaining.
"I just tried to make an aggressive play at the ball and it ended up in my hands so I had to go and finish it," LaVine said.
The basket capped a comically bad stretch of basketball between two tanking teams. Neither team had scored from Bobby Portis' tying 3-pointer with 2 minutes, 29 seconds remaining to LaVine's dunk, combining for six missed shots and two turnovers.
Following LaVine's dunk, Mario Hezonja airballed a 3-pointer on a strong closeout by Markkanen. LaVine then tacked on two free throws.
LaVine's streak of 20-point games ended at a career-high-tying four, but he tied his season-high with five assists and also had seven rebounds.
The Magic sat Aaron Gordon, Nikola Vucevic, Johnathan Isaac and Terrence Ross. Legitimate injuries or not, that represents two of their top-three and three of their top-six scorers.
The Bulls have now won 20 games. Seven teams, including the Magic, remain in the teens.
So celebrate at your own peril, even if the victory featured Denzel Valentine's first NBA dunk on a nifty fast-break feed from LaVine.
Following last Friday's victory over the Timberwolves, a game in which Markkanen had just seven shots, Hoiberg said a focal point would be making the uber-talented rookie more of one. So Markkanen took 19 shots on Saturday versus the Wizards and 19 again on Monday night.
