Patrick Williams didn’t necessarily play the role of defensive stopper on Monday.
Heck, the Bulls’ second-year forward wasn’t even the most talented recent No. 4 pick of the NBA Draft on the floor.
But he was back.
The Bulls needed that, embraced it, and then proceeded to completely blow-out the red-hot Raptors at the United Center 113-99 in what was one of the more important games of the season so far.
The win bumped the home team up to 42-29, ended an ugly three-game losing streak, but more importantly, kept them in the chase to try and get out of the No. 5 seed so they can open up the first round of the playoffs with a home series.
Williams’ return was the cherry on top.
Injured back on Oct. 28 in a loss to the Knicks, Williams had significant surgery to repair all the damage suffered in his left wrist. The original timetable for his return was possibly the postseason, with the initial diagnosis being the injury would cost him the regular season.
However, the Sun-Times reported last month that Williams was ahead of schedule and the hope was to get him back for the final 10-to-12 games.
By last weekend it was clear that it would be more than hope.
Williams checked in the game against Toronto (40-32) with five minutes left in the first to a standing ovation, and while he was obviously working through some serious rust in missing five months, also showed some familiar flashes.
It took 16 seconds for him to commit his first foul, and 80 seconds for Williams to grab his first rebound. His first basket came with 1:23 left in that opening stanza, nailing a three-pointer from the corner. Williams played just under seven minutes in that first stint, scoring five points and grabbing two rebounds, as the Bulls and Raptors went into the halftime locker room in a tight one with the visiting team up 55-54.
He finished with 19 minutes and seven points on 3-of-8 shooting.
“[Williams has] been out five months and he’s a good player,” coach Billy Donovan said of his return and the timing of it. “You can sit there and say, ‘OK, he’s been out five months, we’re just not going to play him, and not even try.’ I don’t think that would be helpful to him and to our team, and we’re probably going to have to go through some growing pains. I mentioned when we were hopeful that we were going to start to get some players back, that was the more difficult part, trying to integrate these guys back into playing when they haven’t played and they’ve been out for so long. You’re expecting them to pick-up where they left off, and it just doesn’t work like that.”
What Donovan was expecting, however, was his stars to play like stars, and that’s what the third quarter was about.
The defense, helped by Alex Caruso now in the starting lineup, completely handcuffed the Raptors for 10 points off six turnovers, while Zach LaVine went 6-for-8 from the field, scoring 16 points in that third. Not only did the Bulls close that quarter out on a 21-8 run, but held Toronto to just 36.8% from the field.
The Raptors never recovered, as the Bulls played to their identity for the first time in a while. LaVine and DeMar DeRozan each finished with 26, while Nikola Vucevic had 19. But it was Williams’ night.
“It was amazing,” Williams said of his return. “Couldn’t really put it into words. I felt good. I think I was able to get comfortable defensively. It’s still going to take some getting used to.
“I just want to bring the energy.”