With LaVine ill, Payne returns to Bulls' starting lineup
Faced with a lineup even more decimated than usual, the Bulls decided to dust off point guard Cameron Payne, who has played very little since losing his starting job to Ryan Arcidiacono on Nov. 10.
Payne and Arcidiacono started in the backcourt on Saturday against Toronto, with leading scorer Zach LaVine shelved by an illness. Coach Fred Hoiberg explained he wanted to keep Antonio Blakeney and Shaq Harrison in their familiar bench roles, so that's why he chose to start Payne.
"I think he (Payne) has had 11 starts this year and Archie is kind of a utility guy out there who can play off the ball," Hoiberg said before the game. "This is an opportunity for guys to step up. We're missing a quarter of our offense out there with Zach on the bench. No one is going to go out there and replace that on their own."
LaVine was feeling under the weather during Friday's game at Milwaukee, when he hit 6 of 20 shots for 15 points.
"He kind of caught it Thursday night," Hoiberg said. "His symptoms got worse overnight. I saw him a couple hours ago at the Advocate Center as we were putting our game plan together and you could tell, he's not doing well."
Toronto was short-handed as well. The Raptors rested Kawhi Leonard on the second night of a back-to-back, as they've done all season, and were missing OG Anunoby (wrist), C.J. Miles (abductor strain) and Norman Powell (shoulder).
Coaches connect in Iowa:
Fred Hoiberg was once an employee of first-year Toronto coach Nick Nurse. Actually, it was more of an independent contractor situation.
"I used to work at his camps and I would go over there and he'd pay me $50 for like three hours of work," Hoiberg said.
The opposing head coaches in Saturday's game are both from Central Iowa. Nurse is a native of Carroll, which is west of Hoiberg's hometown of Ames, about halfway to the Nebraska border.
Nurse, 51, took a winding path to the NBA. He started as a 23-year-old head coach at Grand View University in Des Moines, coached several teams in England, then won two D-League championships, one with the Iowa Energy and one with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, before joining the Raptors as an assistant.
And well, was Hoiberg worth the money he was paid to work those camps?
"He was," Nurse said without hesitation. "Hoiberg in Iowa is worth every penny. He was a big draw."
Lopez splashes down:
Robin Lopez is likely envious of his brother Brook's new nickname. He's being called "Splash Mountain" in Milwaukee since he's a 7-footer draining a lot of 3-pointers.
Robin Lopez knocked down his first 3-pointer of the season on Saturday against Toronto. It was the fifth of his career, with the first four coming last season. Brook has made 45 3s this year.
The Lopez brothers are well-known Disney aficionados. Brook even owns a house near Disney World. So being named after a Disney theme park ride is beyond appropriate.