The Bulls had some stagnant moments in their game Saturday against the Grizzlies.
That was particularly true early on, when they looked more like a G League team than an NBA squad in the first five minutes against a completely undermanned Grizzlies team missing eight players.
No one said life without guard Zach LaVine is always going to be easy.
Until it is.
The Bulls eventually righted the ship and took full control of the game, blowing out the Grizzlies 125-96.
It was just the latest reminder that life without LaVine goes on.
In the Bulls’ victory Thursday in Toronto, LaVine sprained his right ankle while driving to the hoop, tried to come back and play, then was pulled by coach Billy Donovan when it was obvious he wasn’t right.
LaVine had a scan Friday, and now the Bulls are looking at another stint without him. He likely will miss at least the next week.
The good news is that Bulls improved to 11-7 without LaVine going back to the injured right foot that cost him 17 games.
The bad news is that this latest injury isn’t exactly going to help LaVine’s trade stock after the Bulls were doing all they could to try to muster up a market for his services. Now it isn’t only his max contract that will be an obstacle; it’s his availability, too.
Either way, the Bulls’ mentality remained that the show must go on.
‘‘I think, naturally, it’s a next-guy-up mentality with this team,’’ forward Patrick Williams said. ‘‘We’ve shown that really over the years, but especially this year. We’ve done a good job of knowing what works, and I think that’s the sign of a good team.
‘‘The good teams know how to still win games when they’re missing key pieces. For us, it’s about playing with pace, getting downhill, knowing shots may not fall as easily as they do when [LaVine’s] playing. But getting stops defensively and getting out in transition, I think we’re still pretty good.’’
The Grizzlies found that out in the second half, when the Bulls turned a nail-biter into a laugher, outscoring them 75-56 in the final two quarters on their way to improving to 21-23.
And it was an equal opportunity showcase, with seven players scoring in double figures. Ayo Dosunmu led the way with 20 points, and DeMar DeRozan chipped in 18 to go with eight assists.
‘‘It’s definitely a challenge [for the opposing defense] because you really can’t key into one guy,’’ Dosunmu said of how the scoring load was shared. ‘‘It just makes it so we can get downhill more, make plays for each other and create open shots. Then it leads to us getting offensive rebounds and things of that nature.’’
That’s why Donovan again was asked whether the product was better without LaVine.
‘‘Clearly the first 15 games of the year when we were whole, we did not play up to our standard, our capabilities,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘[Since then], we won games when Vooch [Nikola Vucevic] was out; we lost games when Vooch was out. We won games when Zach’s been out; we’ve lost games when Zach was out. We’ve played in a way that I think is good basketball.
‘‘I do think anytime you lose a high-quality player like Zach, it hurts your team at any point and time. His skill set and the things he can do as far as driving it and his ability to assist and get other guys involved help our team. I like when our team is whole.’’
