Billy Donovan knew several of his players didn’t look right late in the game against San Antonio on Friday.
The Bulls coach found out a day later the exact toll that loss took.
Both Ayo Dosunmu (neck and back) and Andre Drummond (shoulder strain) missed the game with the 76ers, with the only good news to come out of it was that neither injury was deemed serious or considered more than a few days.
That didn’t mean the timing was great, however.
Since taking over the starting point guard duties from Lonzo Ball (knee surgery), Dosunmu was growing each game, especially from three point range. Entering the night, the former Morgan Park standout was shooting 45.8% from long range, and taking that shot with confidence.
“Just my hard work,” Dosunmu said of his improvements from three. “That was a part of my game I knew I had to improve.”
Not that he was awful from three last season as a rookie, hitting 37.6% from out there, but Dosunmu knew he would be leaned on early while Ball was recovering. When the Bulls offense was at its best last season, Ball was finding himself open the corner and knocking that shot down consistently.
Dosunmu is trying to do the same.
“The reason why I think he has such great growth ahead of him is because of his ability to really learn and pick-up things,” Donovan said of Dosunmu and his outside shooting. “He can pick it up through film, he can pick it up through his own personal experience when you talk to him. He’s certainly made a lot of growth in that area [shooting three pointers].
“The next step for him is reading the floor on when we want him to drive. There’s times the ball is getting to him and it probably needs to be swung instead of driven. Sometimes he’s got to see what’s going on around him, and he’ll get that through experience.”
As for Drummond and the shoulder, the big man took a nasty fall against the Spurs, but opted to play through it. His range of motion was an issue on Saturday morning, so he was sidelined.
Like Dosunmu, not an easy loss because of how effective Drummond has been as a rebounder. Not only did the back-up center score 17 points against the Spurs, but ripped down 14 boards.
The Bulls will take Sunday off, Monday will be a practice day, and Donovan was hoping to have both players available for the game in Brooklyn on Tuesday.
Maxing out
When Patrick Williams was talking last week about finding a comfort zone playing alongside All-Stars Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan, one of the names that was brought up was 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey.
Not only was Maxey from Williams’ 2020 draft class, but has had to figure out playing with All-Stars Joel Embiid and James Harden.
He’s done more than figure it out, however, evident by the 44-point game he put up on Friday.
According to Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers, it’s a two-way street that young players have to navigate. Yes, they have to find their way, but they also have to show enough for veterans to trust them. That could be the biggest difference between Williams and Maxey right now.
“Especially in Tyrese’s case, that you can trust him,” Rivers said. “You can trust giving him the ball down the stretch. Trust is a tough one for veterans. Selective passing at the end of games to me kills teams. You’ve got to give the ball to the open guy, and the more we do that the better for our team.”
