As Bulls head to Boston, Celtics declare Irving out for playoffs
The Bulls have won three in a row despite having many of their top scorers sidelined with injuries.
On Friday, they'll visit a team that has had bad luck with injuries but still managed to finish high in the standings.
The Boston Celtics announced Thursday that top scorer Kyrie Irving will be out for the playoffs with a knee issue. The team said he will have surgery to remove to screws inserted in his left knee cap after the injury suffered in the 2015 NBA Finals.
The Celtics (53-25) are basically locked into the No. 2 seed in the East after losing to the No. 1 Toronto Raptors on Wednesday. Boston lost forward Gordon Hayward in the season opener to a broken ankle and are playing without guard Marcus Smart, who could return during the playoffs from a hand injury.
The Bulls will travel to Boston without Zach LaVine (knee), Kris Dunn (toe), Denzel Valentine (knee), Paul Zipser (foot) and Antonio Blakeney (wrist), while Noah Vonleh is questionable with a calf issue. Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said the plan is for rookie Lauri Markkanen to play against the Celtics, then the team will decide whether he'll participate in the second half of the back-to-back against the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday at home.
"I've said it all along that our guys have gone out and played the right way," Hoiberg said. "They've found a way to fight through adversity and they've given great effort every time they've stepped on the floor."
The three-game win streak basically put the brakes on the Bulls' slide toward better draft lottery odds. But they still control their own destiny in one sense with two games left against the Nets. The Bulls have 27 wins and the Nets 25, so the Bulls could at least move into a tie with them by losing their last four games.
Leaders from bench:
Even while sidelined late in the season, Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg is hoping Zach LaVine and Kris Dunn can keep developing as team leaders.
"I always look at our bench when we're playing games to see how engaged they are," Hoiberg said. "Kris and Zach have been as engaged as anybody over there. They do a good job of talking to players when they're coming out. They're locked in when we put in our game plan.
"I've talked to Zach, if you see things out there, if a guy's not following the game plan and they come sit next to you and they may be a little frustrated, you've got to be able to talk to him. He's done that. I think Kris Dunn has done that as well."
Holiday prefers open arms:
Justin Holiday was with the Golden State Warriors during their first championship run in 2015 and he thinks it's a positive sign that the Bulls have been welcoming to a new addition like guard Sean Kilpatrick or someone like Antonio Blakeney, who spent most of his season with Windy City.
"That's a good thing to be able to do," Holiday said Thursday. "The teams that I've won with like the Warriors, those guys all feel like brothers. And for us to be able to do that with any person that comes through, that shows our egos aren't too big. And at the same time, we all understand we're in this together and we're going to have to need each other to be successful."