Down a big bad ‘wolf,’ the Bulls’ defense is really going to get tested

Kris Dunn’s defense has been elite all season long.

The Bulls guard, however, gave a lot of that credit to his “wolf.’’

“I try and break-up their rhythm a little bit, and then try and send them to the wolves, try and get them to cause turnovers, try and bring them to Wendell and let Wendell get a couple blocks on them,’’ Dunn said earlier this week, discussing his mentality on the defensive end of the ball.

The problem is the woods just got a lot safer for opposing offenses.

With the Bulls announcing on Thursday that Wendell Carter Jr.’s sprained right ankle will now sideline him four-to-six weeks, that solid defensive efficiency the Bulls had been sporting the last few months could be all set up to take a hit.

At least on Friday, it was Daniel Gafford’s turn to try and make sure it didn’t.

With Carter sidelined, coach Jim Boylen opted to go with the rookie in the middle, rather than back with Thaddeus Young, like he did in Wednesday’s loss in New Orleans.

Expect that situation to stay fluid.

“I think it will,’’ Boylen said, when asked if it could remain match-up based. “I don’t want to paint myself in a corner on that, but matchups can determine that, rest, recovery data, practice times … there’s a lot of things that go into who plays and how much they play, when they play, rather than, ‘This is what I feel like doing today.’ I don’t do it that way. I try and use the information in front of me and see how a guy feels, where he’s at.’’

Where Gafford was at for the Pacers was in a good place mentally.

The second-round pick knows that Carter has a slight different skillset than he does, but he’s already embraced that.

“Just remember what type of basketball I play,’’ Gafford said. “Be the Daniel Gafford that I’ve always been. I started at Arkansas and I never tried to do anything that was out of my comfort zone and I’m going to do the same thing here. I hate that Wendell went down, so I’m just stepping up and picking up the stuff that’s left off with him not starting.’’

As for Carter, he talked to reporters at the morning shootaround, calling the injury “devastating’’ as far as the games he will now miss.

The first-round pick [No. 7 overall] from the 2018 draft played in 44 games as a rookie, having his season shut down when he injured his thumb and had to have surgery. His hope was to put in all 82 games in Year 2, but that is now obviously off the table.

Before going down, Carter was averaging 11.7 points per game, as well as grabbing 9.9 rebounds.

While the expectations for Gafford are obviously lower than that, Boylen was still demanding that the rookie grow up quickly.

“His greatest strength is he knows who he is,’’ Boylen said of Gafford. “Our center position, our five position, is very important to what we do. They set a majority of the pick-and-rolls, late clock they are involved in a lot of actions, and then defensively our bigs are up.’’

“Green Light’’ White

Rookie Coby White added point guard play with the second unit to his responsibilities last month, and the latest in the evolution of the first-round pick is attacking with the left hand.

“The one thing I’ve seen him do the last 10 days is his left hand has really improved, and he’s worked very hard on it,’’ Boylen said. “He was in the gym [Thursday] working on his left hand. Just love that about him.’’