Bulls lose again; Ball's rehab hits a lull
Not all the Bulls' injury news has been good.
Before losing to Phoenix 129-102 on Friday, Bulls coach Billy Donovan explained how Lonzo Ball's quest to ramp up his activity keeps hitting a speed bump. And the best solution might be to park for a little while.
Ball had arthroscopic surgery in his left knee in late January, so he's at the seven-week mark of his recovery. The original projection was six to eight weeks, which may have been a tad optimistic.
"He has not responded," Donovan said. "There are no setbacks, it's still the same thing. He has not been able to do anything full speed, and anytime we can get him close to that, there's discomfort."
So Donovan talked about the medical staff considering various paths, which could include taking a brief rest or maybe a focus on strengthening the joint. Ball last played in a game on Jan. 14 against Golden State.
"I think for him the normal things of walking up and down a flight of stairs, where before the surgery, it was really bothering him," Donovan said. "He doesn't have that all. That's gone. I just think they're all trying to figure it out. He's done a good job of going in there and working."
Once the Bulls return home, they'll have just 12 games left in the regular season. They are in contention for a top-4 seed in the East, but could easily drop into a play-in tournament if they don't reverse their losing trend.
The Suns played without Chris Paul (thumb fracture), Cam Johnson (quad contusion) and Jae Crowder (groin), but the Bulls still couldn't compete. They fell behind by 13 points at halftime as all-star guard Devin Booker scored 20 of his 28 points in the first half.
Things only got worse when the third quarter began as the Bulls (41-29) got another painful lesson in how the best teams make winning plays more consistently than they do. The Bulls have yet to beat any of the top six teams in the NBA - Phoenix, Memphis, Golden State, Miami, Philadelphia or Milwaukee.
The winning plays can be just about anything - hustling back on defense, boxing out, giving help when needed, making the right pass, hitting open shots. The Bulls have made progress in the talent gap since the rebuilding years, but have more steps to take.
No one played particularly well for the Bulls as they finished an 0-3 road trip and lost for the eighth time in 10 games. DeMar DeRozan led the starters with 19 points, while Nikola Vucevic scored 16 and Zach LaVine had 9 assists.
The Bulls could get forward Patrick Williams back as soon as Monday's home game against Toronto. He practiced with the Windy City Bulls on Thursday and plans to do so again Saturday. Donovan said the two sides will then decide if the best option for Williams is to play in a game with Windy City or practice with his Bulls teammates Sunday afternoon. Windy City hosts Westchester at Now Arena in Hoffman Estates.
"He'll certainly play a role in terms of, 'What does he need?'" Donovan said. "I'll go back and meet with him, and probably have that discussion with him in terms of what he feels like he needs to get himself ready.''
The Bulls have a set of back-to-back games coming up. They'll visit Milwaukee on Tuesday after playing Toronto. Donovan said all options are on the table as far as Williams playing in both, one or none of those games.
Williams has been sidelined since Oct. 28, when he hit the floor hard in a game against New York and needed surgery to repair ligament damage in his left wrist.
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