More Bulls injuries put further pressure on getting Lauri Markkanen touches

There was one glaring takeaway after looking at the stat sheet following the Bulls’ 96-93 loss to the Nets on Wednesday.

The Bulls’ biggest offensive weapon, Lauri Markkanen, had just six shots.

That’s almost unforgivable.

“We’ve got to move him around better,’’ coach Jim Boylen said. “He’s got to get a catch at times. Try and get something for him where he goes to the basket, or something where he’s live. We didn’t get him on the post where we have before. But we’ve got to get him at least 15 shots. He had 17 [against the Thunder on Monday], and I kind of like him there.

“It’s a team thing. We’ve got to get him the ball. The team understands that. The responsibility is on the team, myself and him to be more aggressive. Obviously, six shots for him is not what we want. We got to do a lot of things better offensively.’’

The first chance to rectify the situation is Friday against the visiting Magic.

Markkanen’s 3-for-6 night is a stat line you’d expect from a reserve, not a 7-footer who can put the ball on the floor, attack the rim with either hand and shoot with uncanny accuracy from beyond the three-point line.

Markkanen has played in nine games since returning from a right elbow injury and has fallen short of Boylen’s 15-shot standard five times with rock bottom coming against the Nets.

He’s averaging 14.1 shots so far this season compared to 12.7 shots last season.

The difference is Markkanen was a rookie last season. The offense was rebuilt over the summer to feature Markkanen, who added 16 pounds of muscle. The goal for former coach Fred Hoiberg was to have a majority of the sets go through Markkanen.

Markkanen returned against the Rockets on Dec. 1, and Hoiberg was fired on Dec. 3.

Far too often the ball is going around Markkanen, not through him. Boylen wants that fixed.

“I’m not worried about that right now,’’ Markkanen said of his touches. “It’s a new system, and everybody is trying to figure that out, so I’m not really worried about that. Of course I think I could have done more to help the team, but that’s how it is right now. We’ll work on it.’’

Markkanen was asked if the responsibility of “working on it’’ falls on him or his teammates.

“[I’m] not putting anything on my teammates,’’ Markkanen said. “They do the best they can. We’ve just got to recognize who has the mismatch and who has the hot hand and should attack, take the shots.

“All I care about is winning. So whatever I can do to help the team, that’s what I’m going to do. If that’s letting other guys create, then it’s going to be that. That’s how I try and look at it.’’

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The pressure for Markkanen to carry the scoring load increased Thursday with the news that backup Bobby Portis will be sidelined two to four weeks after spraining his right ankle Wednesday. Portis had just returned from a right knee issue.

Jabari Parker is an option to jump back into his backup role behind Markkanen, but Boylen was still trying to decide on a new-look rotation.

“[Parker’s] a part of the team and needs to be ready to play,’’ Boylen said. “He’s one of our power forwards, and we’ll get our rotation set and see what happens.’’