It would’ve been a picking-up-the-pieces game if the Bulls actually felt immediate pieces were lost.
They came back from a 30-point second-half deficit to at least make the Kings have to work for an eventual 123-115 victory Saturday just hours after hearing the news that two-time All-Star Zach LaVine opted to have season-ending surgery on his right foot. It would’ve been a dagger in the past, but LaVine already has been a no-show for more than half the season.
“As far as the group that’s still able-bodied and playing . . . no one is going to come save us,” guard Alex Caruso said. “We’ve still got to go out there and play games and work. This is Game 50, so we’ve still got 32 to go after this. As far as our perspective as players, [LaVine’s] been out recently, so we’ve got a little of the landscape of what that looks like.”
Unfortunately for the Bulls (23-27), it looks all too familiar — too many inconsistent moments, too big of a hole to climb out of, some late-game fight only to fall short.
With the Bulls down five with 2:25 left, Caruso had a bad over-and-back pass that led to another costly turnover, leaving De’Aaron Fox to score his 38th point on a driving layup. Nikola Vucevic had an answer from three-point range to cut it to four, but Fox, who finished with 41, then split two from the free-throw line.
The teams traded baskets for the next minute, but Fox was fouled with 27.6 seconds left and made both to make it a five-point deficit. DeMar DeRozan tried to play hero ball but was turned away at the rim, all but ending the comeback.
“Just mental mistakes,” DeRozan said of the loss. “It falls back on us. We played hard. It’s just about staying mentally locked in to the things we can control.”
On the Ball
Injured point guard Lonzo Ball finally spoke Saturday, but he made sure it was on his terms.
Ball was scheduled to speak to the traveling media last week in Los Angeles but was hit by a flu bug and had to cancel. He did, however, find his way to the bench the next day to sit with his teammates.
Then with Ball in town this week, the hope was again for him to meet with reporters for an update on his left knee rehabilitation, but he had a change of mind and would only go on the flagship station, where the questions were teed up and much easier to hit.
“Doing much better in rehab,” Ball said during the broadcast. “It’s been a long process, obviously, longer than I’d like it to be. It’s definitely cut out in stages, and I keep checking off the boxes I’m supposed to and getting better each week.”
Ball has been out for more than two years, and the hope was that he would start the sprinting process of his rehab in January, but coach Billy Donovan said Friday that hasn’t happened yet.
Ball was ruled out for the 2023-24 season in the fall and will enter next season, the last year of his contract, having played only 35 games for the Bulls.
Welcome back
Forward Torrey Craig returned to the court, playing on a minutes restriction after sitting out since Dec. 16 with plantar fasciitis in his right foot.
Donovan said the initial plan was to keep Craig under the 20-minute mark and, as long as there were no setbacks, slowly expand his playing time. With Patrick Williams (left foot) out for at least another two weeks before his re-evaluation and Dalen Terry (ankle) possibly back within the next few games, bodies were needed.
