Bulls will be missing players again Sunday at Memphis
Before Saturday's win over New Orleans, Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg announced that Dwyane Wade will not play Sunday at Memphis, taking a scheduled rest day on the second leg of back-to-back games. Nikola Mirotic won't make the trip either.
This will be the fifth missed game for Wade this season, the fourth time he's skipped the second half of a back-to-back.
Meanwhile, this will be the fourth straight game Mirotic has missed due to an illness. Before Saturday's contest, Hoiberg said Mirotic has lost weight while battling the illness.
Jimmy Butler returned Saturday after missing two games with an illness, while Denzel Valentine returned after missing one, but played just five minutes and did not score.
Bulls go big on boards:
One statistical category where the Bulls have excelled this season is rebounding margin, where they ranked third in the league at plus-4.5 heading into Saturday's action.
In the 107-99 win over New Orleans, the Bulls won the rebounding battle 63-42, their largest advantage this season. They won the second-chance points 21-6.
Bulls center Robin Lopez had an interesting stat line with 9 offensive rebounds and 10 total. Taj Gibson led the Bulls with a season-high 16 boards.
"I thought the biggest thing for tonight was our guys did a great job of rebounding the ball," coach Fred Hoiberg said. "We played a physical basketball game. To shoot 42 percent and find a way to win, you have to win other battles."
Bulls keep fouls low:
According to the Bulls, the team allowed single-digit made free throws in the previous three games and needed to do that once more to tie the longest such streak in league history. Alas, Anthony Davis buried 2 free throws with 4:16 left in the fourth quarter to give the Pelicans 11 free throws and the streak was over. New Orleans finished with 14.
The Bulls are the best in the NBA at keeping opponents off the foul line, allowing 14.2 made free throws per game. The Bulls have outscored the opposition at the foul line in 28 of 41 games this season.
Late-game change:
Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg shuffled the fourth quarter lineup on Saturday. Before the flu bug hit last week, the Bulls had success with Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic on the floor down the stretch with the idea their outside shooting would create space for Jimmy Butler to operate.
Against the Pelicans, Hoiberg stuck with the starters for most of the fourth quarter, with backup center Cristiano Felicio filling in for Robin Lopez.
"It was personnel. We felt like we needed Michael (Carter-Williams) out there to guard Tyreke Evans," Hoiberg said. "He got it going on us there in the fourth, so we went with Michael's defense. Still played through Jimmy and Dwyane (Wade) with the ball in their hands and set the ball screen with the bigs.