Hawks play on despite having 12 in health and safety protocols
This was one of those games where it was reasonable to ask, "Why wasn't it postponed."
The Atlanta Hawks had 12 players in health and safety protocols on Wednesday. Since playing the Bulls on Monday, they lost a couple veterans who appeared in that game, Bogdan Bogdanovich and Gorgui Dieng.
Before the contest, Atlanta coach Nate McMillan talked about having just four players off the regular roster available - Trae Young, Clint Capela, Cam Reddish and two-way guard Skylar Mays. Everyone else was somebody the Hawks just picked up in the last few days, a group that included NBA veteran Lance Stephenson and Belleville native Malcolm Hill, who played at Illinois from 2013-17.
"This is a regular season game, trying to win a game," McMillan said. "There are times when we're having to put four or five guys out there that don't know our system. We're giving them basic sets, so you're trying to give our guys that are on the roster a breather, but you can only do that so long before the game gets away from you. It's just tough to take them off the floor when you have a depleted roster as we do."
The NBA is encouraging teams to load up on hardship roster exceptions so they'll be able to play games as scheduled, but the league did postpone Wednesday's Miami at San Antonio game. The Bulls have had three games canceled in the past three weeks.
Injury updates:
Derrick Jones Jr. was listed as available Wednesday after missing three games with a left hamstring strain. He sat out one game due to health and safety protocols, then returned against the Lakers on Dec. 19, but suffered the hamstring injury after playing six minutes.
Alex Caruso, who missed his third game with a left foot sprain, was seen doing basketball activities at shootaround, but interim coach Chris Fleming was uncertain about a return.
"I think in that case, it pays to be conservative," Fleming said. "He (Caruso) plays so hard and I think our medical staff is doing a good job of managing, but I think they're just having a long-term view of that recovery, but as far as I know everything is moving forward pretty well."
Bulls notes:
The Bulls added rookie Marko Simonovic to health and safety protocols on Wednesday. The only non-hardship Bulls who haven't been in protocols are Alex Caruso and two-way forward Tyler Cook. Devon Dotson tested out after one day on the list. ...
There was a report Wednesday the Bulls planned to sign forward Jordan Bell, but he was not a member of the team when the game against Atlanta tipped off. Bell was already connected to the Bulls because they sold the second-round draft pick used to take him to Golden State in 2017.