Another week, another injury as Dunn misses practice
A new week brought yet another injury concern for the Bulls. Kris Dunn skipped Monday's practice and visited the doctor due to a pelvic contusion, according to coach Jim Boylen.
Forward Wayne Selden Jr. also did not practice because of a sore left knee. Boylen said both players are listed as day-to-day. The Bulls don't play again until Wednesday when they host New Orleans.
"He did it against Miami (last Wednesday), we think," Boylen said. "He felt pretty good against Charlotte. Maybe he aggravated it against Charlotte and woke up and didn't feel very good. We'll see what happens. We don't envision it to be a long thing. But we'll see how it goes."
Dunn had a nice game against the Heat, finishing with 14 points and 8 rebounds in a rare Bulls' victory. He scored 7 points in 32 minutes in Saturday's loss to Charlotte. Dunn has missed 26 games this season, mostly due to a knee sprain early in the season.
Selden has started the past four games in place of the injured Chandler Hutchison.
Portis sees double:
Bulls coach Jim Boylen was asked if there's anything he can do to help Bobby Portis stay on a hot streak. Portis scored 26 and 33 points in the last two games.
"The (the Hornets) doubled him. They swarmed him with three guys in the second half," Boylen said. "Now our team has to adjust to that. He has to understand he has earned the respect of the league. They made an in-game adjustment to take the ball out of his hands. And now he has to make the right play.
"That's the learning moment. I'm excited we got a guy who is getting doubled. Zach (LaVine) gets blitzed a lot. He has to handle that. Now, Bobby has to."
Race for the bottom:
The Bulls have their work cut out to finish in the NBA's bottom three and earn the 14-percent chance of earning the top pick in the draft lottery. New York and Phoenix had lost a combined 23 straight games as of Monday morning.
So the Bulls aren't really interested in winning right now, but coach Jim Boylen is trying to keep the spirit up.
"I'm just direct and honest about where we are and what we need to do," Boylen said. "We come in and work and we practice. We play almost every day. That's important for your spirit to get that feel.
"We're improving offensively. I think over the last three games, we have the 12th (best) offensive rating in the league. Over the last eight, we're 20th. That's not what we're striving for, but it's improvement. The ball is moving better. We were in three games on the road and ended up winning one. We have to build on that."