Without LaVine, Bulls can't stay with Pistons
The remainder of the Bulls' season is all about learning moments and not catching Atlanta in the standings.
Both goals were accomplished on Sunday in Detroit, where the Bulls slumbered past their early wake up call and lost a matinee 131-108 at Little Caesars Arena.
Zach LaVine missed the game because of a right patellar tendon strain. Wayne Selden Jr. was the Bulls' top scorer with 18 points off the bench. Lauri Markkanen and Otto Porter Jr. added 17 points each.
The game was close in the first half, but Detroit was in no mood to mess around and won the third quarter 42-25. The Pistons (34-31) have won 12 of their last 14 with the next two games at Brooklyn and Miami, their two closest rivals in the playoff race.
"We've got to learn from the Pistons," Bulls coach Jim Boylen told reporters after the game. "Their bench guys come off with force, (Langston) Galloway and (Ish) Smith. They take pride in their minutes and they play them the best they can, then they sit down and root for the other guys.
"(Blake) Griffin and (Andre) Drummond are powerful guys and they pounded on us a little bit. They've got a couple stars, they've got some good role players. They've got some maturity. They're a good example of maybe who we can be, how we have to grow, what we need to learn."
This was the last game the Bulls will play against a Central Division opponent this season. They finished 0-4 against Detroit, Milwaukee and Indiana, while winning three of four against Cleveland.
Griffin scored 28 points in 26 minutes, while Drummond collected his usual double-double (16 points, 15 rebounds) against the Bulls. The Pistons also shot the lights out from long range, going 19 of 35 from behind the arc.
The Bulls led until giving up an 11-3 run to finish the second quarter. Detroit quickly stretched the lead to 15 points early in the third quarter and the rout was on.
Sunday was LaVine's 24th birthday. Since the all-star break, he's averaged 28.2 points, so the Bulls obviously lacked firepower without him.
"He didn't feel good," Boylen said. "You can kind of tell from a guys' eyes how he feels about what he's doing and it didn't get loose, it didn't feel well and he was really disappointed.
"I'm always concerned when a guy misses a game who's playing at a level he's playing at. That means he's not feeling well, because he's been kicking butt."
It's too soon to know if LaVine will be back for Tuesday's home game against the Los Angeles Lakers. After that, the Bulls have a three-game West Coast trip while the Big Ten Tournament moves into the United Center.
Markkanen had an impressive putback dunk in the first half, but continued a mini-slump. After a great run where he recorded a double-double in 12 of 15 games, Markkanen has averaged 15 points and shot 26 percent from 3-point range in the last four.
"To Lauri's credit, he's a young kid, he's a heck of a player," Boylen said. "We've got the Greek kid (Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo) in this division, we've got Blake in this division. He's got his hands full, and he's battling and he's trying and he's doing a good job."
Twitter: @McGrawDHBulls