Bulls’ Nikola Vucevic apologizes after being ejected by referee Tony Brothers

Considering Vucevic only swears in Serbian, it was quite the feat by Brothers to not only understand what was said, but hit him with a second technical and eject him from the Lakers game on Sunday.

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Bulls players tried to plead their case with official Tony Brothers after he ejected Nikola Vucevic in the second quarter on Sunday.

Bulls players tried to plead their case with official Tony Brothers after he ejected Nikola Vucevic in the second quarter on Sunday.

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

LOS ANGELES — Referee Tony Brothers must be fluent in Serbian.

And not the good words, either.

With 1:02 left in the first half of the Bulls’ 118-108 victory against the Lakers, center Nikola Vucevic was hit with a technical foul by Sean Corbin. Venting toward the bench, Vucevic obviously wasn’t happy. Then he turned and uttered something back toward the court.

Brothers quickly slapped him with a second technical and instant ejection.

Here’s the thing about Vucevic, though: When he swears or gets angry during a game, he only speaks in Serbian to avoid technicals.

He insisted that was the case again.

Brothers reacted like he knew exactly what Vucevic said.

Either way, Vucevic took full responsibility and apologized to his teammates.

“It was a bad decision by me to react the way I did,’’ Vucevic said. “In a game as important as it was for us, I’ve got to be better, control my emotions in the moment. My mistake. My teammates came through once again for us. Makes me feel less bad about myself.’’

He was surprised to get a second technical so quickly — and from a different official.

“Usually there’s that little cool-off period, if you want to call it that,’’ Vucevic said. “It is what it is. I overreacted, for sure.’’

Vucevic’s ejection allowed Andre Drummond to ride in on the white horse and give the Bulls some valuable minutes in the middle. Drummond had 12 points and eight rebounds and Patrick Beverley in his ear the entire time.

“You gotta give Drummond a lot of credit,’’ Beverley said. “He responded. We come in waves. We’re about 10, 11 deep, and everyone was poised. It was a team win.

“I’m tough as [expletive] on Drummond because I know his potential. He’s an All-Star for a reason. My [talk] was, ‘Job not finished . . . keep going, keep going. We’ll talk after the game.’ He did what he was supposed to do. Fortunate to have a big like that coming off the bench.’’

Get used to it

Guard Alex Caruso, no stranger to the daily injury report, will be on it for the rest of the season.

Coach Billy Donovan said Caruso’s sprained left foot isn’t going to improve until the Bulls are done and he can give it the proper rest it needs. That means daily managing of the injury and a lot of uncertainty from game to game.

“It’s probably going to be something we’re going to have to deal with the entire year,’’ Donovan said. “Sometimes he gets it to a place where it gets pretty sore, and it’s hard for him to move. Then he gets time [off], and it goes down and gets better.’’

Two steps back

It appeared the Bulls would have another key wing defender for the stretch run when they finally got Javonte Green back after surgery on his right knee in January.

But now the rest of the season could be in jeopardy for Green.

He returned for the game against the 76ers last week and played just under nine minutes, then came back two nights later to face the 76ers again and played six minutes off the bench.

But the knee soreness that has cost him most of the second half flared up again, forcing him back into street clothes for the West Coast trip.

Donovan acknowledged it as a setback and couldn’t say when or if Green would be back.

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