In the final minutes of a close fourth quarter, the Chicago Bulls are most comfortable with the ball placed firmly in DeMar DeRozan’s hands. But as they pulled away from the Indiana Pacers on Sunday, DeRozan placed his trust in teammate Zach LaVine.
It was LaVine’s first game back from his second bout with COVID-19. The guard spent more than a week stuck in a hotel room, running in place and knocking out pushups to keep up his fitness, but he returned to the United Center with a spark.
LaVine entered the fourth quarter with 20 points and rhythm in his shot, piling on the Pacers from long range. With his teammate taking over, DeRozan stepped aside into a supporting role, clearing the runway for LaVine to drop 12 points in the final quarter to finish with 32 and cement a 113-105 win.
“We had a short huddle with DeMar and Zach as we were going out, and really DeMar said, ‘Hey, listen, let’s stay with Zach,’” interim coach Chris Fleming said. “Those guys are pretty selfless in that respect. Both of them are willing to sacrifice for the other guy. It really seems to work.”
The game marked LaVine’s second straight 30-point performance — but they took place 15 days apart. He scored 33 against the Heat on Dec. 11 in Miami. The next morning he entered COVID-19 protocols, becoming the ninth Bulls player trapped in quarantine.
LaVine returned to the Advocate Center gym immediately after he received clearance, staying up late to shoot on his own. He took advantage of extra practice sessions.
Fleming joked before the game that he would limit LaVine to “44 (or) 45 minutes” — a standard shift for LaVine as he carried the Bulls through prior seasons. He needed only 33 minutes to record his 32-point damage, which led the Bulls to their third straight win since their two-game pause due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
LaVine was just happy to get back to winning.
“(DeRozan has) been incredible in the fourth quarter, so it’s been easy for me to be like, get him the ball, get out the way,” LaVine said. “Coming up to this point, I haven’t won like this, and it’s been the best feeling I’ve had winning, so it’s been really easy for me. We play well with each other and we’re straight up.
“Obviously there’s going to be nights where I have it, nights he has it, so as long as we both have that same demeanor to do whatever it takes to win, we’ll all be fine.”
The Bulls knew what not to do entering the rematch. The Pacers handed the Bulls one of their nastiest losses of the season in November, a 109-77 drubbing without Alex Caruso or Nikola Vučević. That game built a template for a Bulls loss — allowing an opponent to bully them in the low post while settling for low-percentage perimeter shots.
The Bulls had Vučević back in the lineup Sunday, but they were stripped of their perimeter defensive leaders with Caruso injured and Lonzo Ball sidelined because of COVID-19.
The towering pair of Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis — who each stand 6-foot-11 — always poses a physical challenge, even for Vučević. But despite combining for 33 points, neither player was afforded the same space to smash around in the low post.
Vučević used his length to harass Sabonis and force him into lengthier shots, while Javonte Green and depth players such as Tyler Cook provided muscle to knock Turner out of rhythm.
The Bulls didn’t win the boards, but they also didn’t lose them. Both teams recorded 49 rebounds, and that balance made the greatest difference between the two games.
Vučević finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds. His performance extended into a facilitating role, peppering passes into the low post to Green and feeding LaVine fluidly off the pick and roll.
The Bulls needed their star trio to perform after a last gasp from COVID-19′s unyielding march through the roster. The team thought it was free from the virus’ grasp Wednesday, when six players were cleared from the league’s health and safety protocols, but that respite lasted less than a day before coach Billy Donovan tested positive.
Ball, Tony Bradley and Alfonzo McKinnie tested positive Sunday morning, throwing Fleming and his staff back into rotational duress.
With five players out and back-to-back games looming, Fleming also needed to lean on his bench. Coby White started in Ball’s absence, running the point to begin the game. With more than a week of distance from his COVID-19 quarantine, White brought a much-needed bounce and scored eight points.
Cook brought physical defense, while rookie Ayo Dosunmu continued his steady progression as a sixth man in his first game back from COVID-19. Matt Thomas played 12 consecutive minutes in the first half to allow starters to get extended rest ahead of a Monday night road game against the Atlanta Hawks.
“Matt’s cardio is unbelievable,” Fleming said. “We had not planned on playing him as long in the first half, but I thought our team had a flow. Thinking back to back, it’s always an advantage if you could rest DeMar, rest Zach a few more minutes, and he helped us do that.”
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