CHICAGO _ Rawle Alkins was in Westchester, N.Y., late Tuesday night, thinking about his first playoff game with the Windy City Bulls on Wednesday, when the text arrived.
A 7 a.m. Eastern time flight to Chicago. The Bulls need you.
"I didn't sleep much, left (the hotel) about 5:45 a.m. (Eastern time) and got to the airport," Alkins said. "And here I am."
And here the Bulls are, limping to the finish line and needing two-way players Alkins and Brandon Sampson to nudge past the league minimum of eight available bodies.
The short-handed Bulls lost 118-98 to the Trail Blazers. Shaquille Harrison scored a career-high 21 points and posted his second career double-double, while Wayne Selden Jr. added his first career double-double. Seth Curry's 20 points led Portland.
Lauri Markkanen spent Tuesday night in Toronto after undergoing medical tests for the extreme fatigue that sidelined him for the second half of the loss to the Raptors. That necessitated the call-up of Alkins, who played with Markkanen at Arizona.
"I'm happy to be here, but it's definitely disappointing to miss the (G League) playoffs," Alkins said. "I spoke to the players before I left. I told them to still get this one. They've won without me and (Brandon Sampson) before. It won't be any different. Those guys are confident and are great players. Coach Charlie (Henry) is still very confident in (the) team."
Alas, the Windy City Bulls, like their parent affiliate has often of late, lost 95-82 on Wednesday night to the Westchester Knicks.
With Markkanen joining _ deep breath here _ Denzel Valentine, Wendell Carter Jr., Chandler Hutchison, Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and Otto Porter Jr. in street clothes, Alkins drew first-quarter reserve action. So at least he played after missing out on the G League playoffs.
"That was a heartbreaker for me," coach Jim Boylen said. "There's nothing like a playoff experience. And so I talked to Coach Henry and I talked to John (Paxson) about it, and we thought it was very important to have those guys be a part of that experience. But with what's transpired throughout the week here, we thought it was more important for them to be with us."
Boylen started Sampson, Antonio Blakeney, Selden Jr., Harrison and Robin Lopez. He said he needed spot starter Ryan Arcidiacono with the second unit to stabilize that group.
Markkanen returned to Chicago on Wednesday with Chip Schaefer, the team's director of performance health. Boylen said the second-year forward is "worn out" and would be re-evaluated. Boylen didn't shed light on whether Markkanen is done for the season.
"He was in my office at 2 p.m. (Wednesday)," Boylen said. "He'd like to play."
Boylen downplayed a question about whether Markkanen has experienced any new issues stemming from the right elbow injury that sidelined him for this season's first 23 games. He said he noticed by Markkanen's gait in the first half against the Raptors that something was up.
"I thought he was laboring a few times up the floor and I asked him how he was doing," Boylen said. "From what I know, the elbow is OK. He has not complained about that or mentioned that. But he's not a guy who complains about stuff. He's not a guy who wants people to ask how he's doing. He's not one of those dudes. We'd love to have him back. Hopefully, he'll be back soon.
"I think it's always serious when a guy doesn't feel well. We always take those things to heart. He's a big part of what we're building, an important piece to the future. He's a young, developing guy. As much as we think every moment on the floor helps us, we also have to protect him and his future. I think we're handling it exactly how we should be handling it."
