Just yesterday, my Dad and I were yucking it up about the Bulls’ success this season at his house during the Christmas festivities. We talked about how nice it was to finally see the Bulls on the other side of their COVID outbreak. So, naturally:
Oh, Come On: Lonzo Ball Has Now Entered the NBA’s Health and Safety Protocolshttps://t.co/4OKgerMX5l
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) December 26, 2021
Lonzo Ball, Alfonzo McKinnie, Tony Bradley, and head coach Billy Donovan entered the NBA’s Health & Safety Protocols in the past 48 hours, so the Bulls will be led by acting head coach Chris Flemming and without their starting point guard.
Game Info
Indiana Pacers at Chicago Bulls – 7:00 p.m. CT on NBC Sports Chicago (TV), and 670 The Score (Radio)
Stream the game online here with your cable provider.
Projected Starters
Chicago Bulls
1. Coby White
2. Zach LaVine
3. DeMar DeRozan
4. Javonte Green
5. Nikola Vucevic
Injury Report: Patrick Williams OUT (Wrist), Lonzo Ball OUT (H&S P’s), Alfonzo McKinnie OUT (H&S P’s), Javonte Green OUT (H&S P’s), Alex Caruso OUT (Foot), Derrick Jones Jr. OUT (Hamstring)
Indiana Pacers
1. Malcolm Brogdon
2. Caris LeVert
3. Justin Holiday
4. Domantas Sabonis
5. Myles Turner
Injury report: T.J. Warren OUT (Foot), T.J. McConnel OUT (Wrist), Jeremy Lamb QST (Wrist), Malcolm Brogdon QST (Achilles Soreness), Domantas Sabonis QST (Calf Soreness)
What to Watch For …
• Zach LaVine returns to action this evening, marking his first game action since December 11 when the gassed and decimated Bulls fell to the Miami Heat despite a 33-point night for LaVine. Acting Bulls coach Chris Fleming joked that LaVine would likely be on a minutes restriction in his first game in 15 days.
Acting Bulls coach Chris Fleming, with a laugh, when asked if Zach LaVine will have a minutes restriction in first game back from COVID:
“Yeah, we’ll probably limit him to 44, 45 minutes”
— Rob Schaefer (@rob_schaef) December 26, 2021
• Coby White will get his first start of the season with Lonzo Ball in the protocols. It’ll be interesting to see what White’s role looks like with the starting unit that features the healthy trio of Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic.
• Will new 10-day signees Max McClung and Ersan Ilyasova get some run tonight? The Bulls were off for almost a week due to the Raptors’ postponement last week, and the Christmas holiday, so Chris Flemming will have plenty of minutes in the legs of his stars if he needs them.