Chicago Bulls feel the pain in win over Wizards
At the end of a Disney-themed halftime show, the Bulls shot streamers into the air and several got stuck on the scoreboard.
So the second half of Wednesday night's Bulls-Wizards contest featured some red streamers waving just above the action. Bulls coach Jim Boylen said the referees wanted to pull the streamers down, but Boylen and Washington coach Scott Brooks agreed to just keep playing.
It was a strange night, with the Bulls losing two more players to injury. But they pulled out a 115-106 victory.
Rookie center Daniel Gafford will miss 2-4 weeks after suffering a dislocated right thumb early in the first quarter. Forward Chandler Hutchison left the game in the fourth quarter after falling hard on his back.
Just 1:21 into the game, Gafford took a swipe at the ball and came up with a steal. But he quickly buckled over in pain, called timeout and jogged straight to the locker room while holding the thumb with his other hand.
"When I looked, my thumb was almost off my hand," said Gafford, who was able to crack jokes about the ordeal after the game. "It kind of caught me off guard. I had to double-take, look at it, because this is the first time this had ever happened before. I ain't never seen nothing like that before.
"The pain really didn't set in until I got back here in the locker room. Once I sat down, it hurt, but it wasn't like that type of pain you can't bear. The doctor did a great job, put my finger back together like a jigsaw puzzle. That didn't hurt like I thought it was going to hurt when they popped it back in. It felt like they were pulling my finger."
Gafford started his fourth game in place of the injured Wendell Carter Jr., who already was out 4-6 weeks with a right-ankle sprain. That leaves Luke Kornet and Cristiano Felicio as the Bulls' two healthy centers.
Kornet played a season-high 35 minutes and scored 10 points. Felicio made his United Center season debut in this game, after being out with a broken wrist. Felicio grabbed 2 rebounds in seven minutes. Kornet appears to be the starting center for the next few weeks.
"I did it some in New York," Kornet said. "I play basketball for a living; it's my favorite thing to do. So it's like, 'Yeah, absolutely (ready for it).' "
In the fourth quarter, Hutchison went to the locker room after a nice baseline drive that ended with a hard fall onto his back. The second-year forward, who has played in just 14 games this season due to a number of injuries, struggled to his feet and leaned on Boylen for about a minute, before choosing to leave the game rather than shoot a free throw for the 3-point play.
Boylen said after the game Hutchison aggravated the shoulder injury that just sidelined him for six weeks and will be reevaluated Thursday.
Since Hutchison couldn't continue, Wizards coach Scott Brooks got to select which player off the Bulls' bench would shoot the free throw. Brooks chose Shaq Harrison, who buried the shot.
Zach Lavine led the Bulls with 30 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. It was the fifth time in the last seven games that LaVine scored at least 30.
"I expect myself to play this way. I put a lot of work in for it," LaVine said. "It doesn't mean a lot to me if it doesn't end with a win. You've got to be consistent. I've got to continue to do it. I'm in a nice little groove right now."
Following a lackluster first half, the Bulls (15-27) opened the third quarter on fire and launched a 22-6 run. Markkanen's 3-pointer put the Bulls ahead 77-66 with 5:30 left in the third.
Then Washington answered with a 25-10 run of its own to regain the lead. Once the Bulls' starters went back into the game, they took control, quickly pushing a 1-point lead into double digits.
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