McGraw: Locked into 10th seed, Bulls need to rest the starters
The Bulls delivered another lackluster effort Wednesday in Milwaukee, and it's getting to the point where they probably need rest more than another victory.
DeMar DeRozan, who has been bothered by a right quad strain for most of the season, didn't score during the first three quarters of the 105-92 loss to the Bucks. He finished with 8 points on 3-of-12 shooting.
Zach LaVine had a quiet game, hitting 5 of 17 shots for 13 points. Maybe he could use a couple days off as well. The Bulls have two games left in the regular season, at Dallas on Friday and home against Detroit on Sunday.
With two straight losses, the Bulls are locked into the No. 10 seed. To get through the play-in tournament, they'll have to win two road games, with Toronto, Atlanta and Miami the potential opponents. It's a tough task, but possible. It would certainly help the Bulls' cause if DeRozan and Alex Caruso are at their best. Caruso sat out Wednesday with a sore foot, another lingering injury.
"My feeling would be that Zach, DeMar, Vuc (Nikola Vucevic), those guys that have logged a lot of minutes will sit down with medical to determine the game against Dallas," coach Billy Donovan told reporters after the game. "The players will obviously have a say so in that. My feeling is they have to play some against Detroit, that's just my thought, unless obviously someone's got an illness or injury and it's just not good for them physically."
The 9-10 play-in game will be Wednesday, so sitting out both the remaining games would give those players close to a full week off.
"But I think just to take two games off where they've been so used to playing every other day, I think that rhythm's important," Donovan said. "I'm not saying they need to play their normal rotation, but they've got to be out there, I would think. That's just me off the top of my head."
Both the Bulls and Bucks played on Tuesday, so all-star Giannis Antetokounmpo sat out and Khris Middleton sat down with a sore knee after playing eighth minutes.
After a slow start, the Bulls recovered to take a 10-point lead in the third quarter and it looked like they might cruise against a short-handed opponent. Instead, the Bulls crumbled, allowing Milwaukee to go on a 15-0 run. The Bucks added a 10-2 run midway through the fourth quarter to go up by 10.
Former Bulls forward Bobby Portis stuck it to his old team as usual. He led Milwaukee with 27 points and 13 rebounds. Center Brook Lopez scored 26, while Vucevic paced the Bulls with 21 points and 11 boards.
As of today, the Bulls would match up against No. 9 Toronto in the first play-in game. The winner would play the loser of Miami-Atlanta next Friday. The Bulls' opponent could change, but only if the Hawks lose their last two games and the Raptors win the last two.
DeRozan participated in a play-in game with San Antonio in the bubble. He gave some thought to a potential game in his longtime home Toronto.
"Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful," DeRozan said in the locker room. "I think it will be fun, it'll be very exciting. It'll be real cool.
"I always believe if you've got a chance, you've got a way. We've got a chance now we've just got to make a way. Things are going to be exciting. One-game elimination, everything about the game will keep you on edge."
Jones wins MVP:
Hoffman Estates was home to an MVP this season. Point guard Carlik Jones was named the G League's most valuable player on Wednesday. He averaged 26.1 points, 7 assists and 4.4 rebounds for the Windy City Bulls.
The second-year pro spent time as a Bulls two-way player, then was signed to an NBA contract on March 3 and has appeared in four games for the NBA Bulls. A Cincinnati native, Jones played in college at Radford and Louisville.
Twitter: @McGrawDHSports