As guard Coby White searches for rhythm, Bulls fall to Celtics

It’s still not there for guard Coby White.

There are no concerns from the Bulls’ coaching staff about him locating his missing rhythm and timing, but there’s no doubt they’re MIA.

And if the Bulls are going to get where they want to get the rest of this season, they’ll need to turn up soon.

That was evident in the 124-113 loss to the Celtics on Saturday. White made his second straight appearance — now back as a starter — since missing three games with a right hip injury and went 3-for-11 from the field (1-for-4 from three-point range) and had 11 points.

“Me being around him, he thrives when he’s kind of in a rhythm, when he can kind of go through his normal routine, his progression, he can shoot, he needs to feel the ball, touch the ball,” coach Billy Donovan said. “He was able to do that the day or two before [his return in Houston] but hadn’t really had a whole lot of contact. There’s certain guys that kind of come off an injury and maybe never miss a beat, so to speak. It’s not like he missed a long time; he missed the three games.

“The timing part will come. He’ll work to get that back.”

White agreed.

“At this point of the season when you miss a week, it feels like a lot longer than that,” White said after the latest loss. “So for me, I don’t want to force it. Just let the game come to me. I’m just trying to go out there and contribute any way I can right now.”

The Bulls (34-37) have just 11 regular-season games left and seem locked into the No. 9 spot that they’ve held down for quite some time. They are, however, hoping that the slumping Heat or 76ers continue stumbling, giving the Bulls an opportunity to move into the No. 7 vs. No. 8 game of the play-in tournament.

Would it change the inevitable? Unlikely. But it would give them the opportunity to meet the No. 2-seeded Bucks instead of the top-seeded Celtics.

But there’s a bigger picture involved here, as well, specifically White and his ascent this season. He has played himself into at least being looked at as a possible All-Star candidate next season, but has he also changed the way the organization looks at the roster?

At the start of the season, DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic were regarded as the “Big Three.” Could White change the way the foundation is built moving forward?

“Obviously the summer, him signing a long-term deal, we made the commitment to him that we wanted him to be here,” Donovan said.

“What Coby has done, you would want to create organizationally a runway for him to continue to grow, continue to develop. But I haven’t necessarily had the discussion where it’s been, ‘Wow, we got this guy, and now we’ve got to do this.’

“The other thing is, and I felt this even when I first came [to the Bulls], being around Lauri [Markkanen], being around Wendell [Carter Jr.], Coby, I think sometimes with these young guys, there’s so much placed on their back of, ‘All right, these are the pillars, these are the guys that are going to help elevate.’ And I think as young players, it’s hard to handle that.”

That’s what the Bulls love about White.

He had his ups and downs but put the work in and stayed the course.

His next evolution is delivering when it matters most. That was a struggle again against the Celtics as he finds his way back.