DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine continued their offensive rampage with 35 and 30 points, respectively, but the key to the Chicago Bulls’ fourth straight win — a 130-118 road victory over the Atlanta Hawks — was a series of adjustments from role players Javonte Green, Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu.
The absences of Alex Caruso (left foot sprain) and Lonzo Ball (COVID-19 protocols) left a gaping hole in the Bulls’ perimeter defense, and Trae Young plunged right through it in his first game back from the league’s health and safety protocols.
Young missed three games after entering the protocols Dec. 19 as the Hawks battled an outbreak similar to those faced by the Bulls and other teams throughout the league. He showed no signs of rust, reaching double-digit scoring in the first quarter and scorching the Bulls around the rim.
Guarding Young was an immediate challenge for White, who struggled to stay upright as Young dipped and danced around him to the rim, so Dosunmu stepped into the assignment. Dosunmu couldn’t stop Young, but he forced the Hawks guard into inconvenient paths away from the basket and used his length to fence him into fading shots. Young scored only five points with Dosunmu mainly guarding him through the second quarter.
Dosunmu’s demeanor rarely changes regardless of the assignment on a given night. The rookie didn’t show even a blip of celebration when he swatted a shot by Young into the stands in the second quarter, nearly missing an enthusiastic high-five from Nikola Vučević as he searched for his defensive assignment on the impending inbounds play.
The Bulls defense quieted Young in the third quarter. Green swapped defensive assignments with White to blanket Young, getting help off the ball from Vučević, who enforced space in the paint with his length to limit Young’s ability to drive to the rim. Without the weight of defending Young, White freed up a buoyant shooting form, dropping 10 points in the third quarter to supplement an offensive surge to a 16-point lead for the Bulls.
Limiting Young — who finished with 29 points on 8-of-23 shooting — wasn’t enough to shut down the Hawks offense as Cam Reddish took the reins to score 33 points and cut the lead to single digits.
The Bulls relied on the heart of their scoring — LaVine, DeRozan and Vučević — to close the shootout. The trio combined for 25 assists with only five turnovers.
In their second game back on the court together after respective bouts with COVID-19, LaVine and DeRozan combined for their familiar one-two punch to send the Hawks reeling. DeRozan scored 15 points in the first quarter, while LaVine took charge in the second. They finished with a combined 65 points, with LaVine reaching 30 or more for the 10th time this season and DeRozan for the ninth time.
LaVine carved paths to the rim throughout the game, ripping open lanes that freed both DeRozan and Vučević in the midrange and around the 3-point arc. Vučević hit four 3-pointers in the second half to bolster a 24-point, 17-rebound performance, peeling the Hawks defense open with balanced shooting in the post and from long range.
In the fourth quarter, DeRozan returned to his inevitable efficiency, leaving Hawks players with hands on their knees or flung in the air in a mix of exasperation and disbelief. DeRozan shot 70% (14 of 20) from the field.
Matt Thomas supplemented from 3-point range in another hot shooting night off the bench, knocking down 3 of 5 from behind the arc.
COVID-19 continued to hover around the edges of the game. Both teams were missing key players in protocols — 10 for the Hawks, including John Collins and Jalen Johnson, and three for the Bulls, including Ball. Bulls coach Billy Donovan missed his second game after entering COVID-19 protocols Thursday, with assistant Chris Fleming taking his place in the interim.
The burden of 10-day quarantines will be lifted soon after the NBA and NBPA agreed Monday to shorten the mandatory isolation period to six days, according to reports. The decision was made shortly before the CDC released a directive for individuals to reduce their isolation periods to five days.
“It impacts our guys, it impacts our coach, it impacts the rest of the league,” Fleming said. “I think in general, if they think that’s safe, then I’m all for it to get these guys back and back on the floor provided they’re healthy.”
