Bulls slide to .500 as injuries mount; Okoro, White, Smith, Essengue all sidelined
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The Chicago Bulls have fallen back to .500 at 9-9 after dropping Friday’s road game in Charlotte, their third shaky outing in a four-day span that also included a loss to New Orleans and a one-point escape against Washington.
The stumble coincides with a growing injury list. Forward Isaac Okoro missed his third straight contest on Friday because of a back issue, stripping head coach Billy Donovan of his most flexible perimeter stopper.
“With Isaac being out … we don’t have the luxury to just rely on one guy stopping one guy,” Donovan said, noting that Okoro routinely handles elite assignments across the league.
Guard Coby White was held out of Saturday’s matchup with Indiana, the second night of a back-to-back. Donovan told reporters before tipoff that this is expected to be the final scheduled back-to-back absence for White, who has appeared in five games since returning from a strained right calf. Future decisions will be made case-by-case.
The Bulls added two more names to the injury report for Saturday: forward Jalen Smith (hamstring strain) and rookie big man Noa Essengue (shoulder contusion). Donovan said Essengue was injured during a recent G League appearance.
With regulars sidelined, bench players have been pressed into heavier roles. Donovan earlier in the week lamented the roster’s lack of “sustainability,” and guard Ayo Dosunmu pointed to recurring fundamental mistakes as a factor in the recent skid.
“Coach has been telling us a thousand times to box out,” Dosunmu said after the New Orleans loss. “But on film, we’re going to the glass, not boxing out, just standing around … We keep saying the stove is hot, and we keep touching the stove.”
Source: Hoops Rumors
