DETROIT – Zach LaVine was dealing with a right patellar strain that forced him to watch from the sidelines throughout a majority of the Saturday practice, but missing Sunday’s game against the Pistons was more about a general “wear and tear’’ for the Bulls’ leading scorer.
LaVine at least received some treatment and attempted to warm-up prior to the early-afternoon game, but considering the number of minutes he’s played lately, the risk outweighed the reward, and the white flag was raised.
“Just wear and tear,’’ coach Jim Boylen said of what was hampering the 6-foot-5 guard. “He did not do much [Saturday]. He had a lot of treatment, and just a lot of work from our guys.’’
Not that the Bulls weren’t used to life without LaVine since he was acquired from Minnesota in the Jimmy Butler deal.
He played in only 24 games last season, as he was recovering from anterior cruciate ligament surgery, and missed his eighth game of this season in sitting out in Motown.
Considering LaVine’s workload recently, however, no one was complaining.
Through the first five games this month, LaVine was averaging 39 minutes per game, including 56 minutes logged in the quadruple-overtime win in Atlanta on Mar. 1. Before that, he played in all 10 games in the month of February, averaging 35.1 minutes per game.
Only Ryan Arcidiacono has played in more Bulls games than LaVine this season, but LaVine led the team with 34.5 minutes per game and in total minutes with 2,071.
“There’s no reason to risk anything with just a little tendinitis in the knee right now, so I’ll wait for the pain to go away, see how I feel [Monday],’’ LaVine said. “I think it will be just day-by-day, see how it is, and feel it out. I had some pain, and I just didn’t want to, like I said, go out there and risk it. You know, why try and get hurt?’’
Bench blues
Boylen continued experimenting with his substitution patterns on Sunday, with the main focus still trying to figure out possible bench roles moving forward in the rebuild.
In the loss to Detroit on Friday, Boylen went with five reserves exclusively for several stints, but on Sunday – at least before the game became mop-up time in the fourth – he tried to stagger the reserves with starters like Lauri Markkanen, Otto Porter and Kris Dunn.
It’s obviously still a work in progress for Boylen.
“I’m trying to develop a bench,’’ Boylen said. “I’m trying to trust some guys. I’m trying to get some guys to step up and contribute. I don’t sub and say, ‘We’re not going to play well now.’ I don’t sub and say, ‘You’re a second unit guy. I expect us to lose the lead.’ I don’t say that. I say, ‘I’m playing you and I expect you to play like everybody else and compete like everybody else and own it like everybody else and grow like everybody else.’ I think there’s a misconception that I’m subbing thinking we’re not going to do well. I don’t sub that way.’’
Lay-ups
Bulls play-by-play announcer Neil Funk fell ill before the Sunday morning broadcast, so radio announcer Chuck Swirsky received the last-second call from the bullpen and jumped in. … The Bulls are now 3-13 against the Central Division, with all three wins coming against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Bulls are now a combined 7-25 against the division the last two years combined.
