Jujhar Khaira immediately knew he’d made a mistake.

Just three minutes earlier — during the second period of the Blackhawks’ loss to the Jets on Sunday — he’d been the one scoring a goal and celebrating in style. But in this instance, he’d let the Jets answer right back.

“I’ve got to know where I’ve got to go on that,” Khaira said Wednesday, thinking back. “Once I hand it off to the ‘D,’ I have to cover the middle. That’s the most important ice. I have to learn from that. That’s a mistake, that’s not how you want to learn, but unfortunately that’s what happens. Now it’s just [about] trying not to let that happen again.”

The error occurred when Khaira — who was briefly covering Jets puck-carrier Blake Wheeler as he skated down the right-side boards in the Hawks’ zone — let Hawks defenseman Filip Roos take over covering Wheeler as he progressed toward the goal line.

But then Khaira, instead of cutting into the middle of the zone and picking up a new coverage assignment — and he would’ve had two to choose from, since Jets forwards Cole Perfetti and Mark Scheifele were both open — simply stopped his motion and idly watched the puck. Wheeler curled behind the net and fed Scheifele in the slot for an easy goal.

Hawks coach Luke Richardson called out Khaira for it after the game, noting he needed to “float to the inside and have [his] stick to the inside” in that situation.

Richardson mentioned Wednesday, though, that Khaira is always the “first guy to ask to look at his shifts” and receive feedback. And coincidentally, that one glaring mistake seems to be an exception to Khaira’s rule lately. He’s arguably playing his best hockey in years.

In his first 12 games of the season, he tallied one point, 10 shots on goal and 10 scoring chances. In his last seven games, he has recorded four points, 13 shots on goal and 13 scoring chances.

Those four points equal his total from his entire previous Hawks tenure (39 games, dating back to October 2021) and mark his most productive seven-game segment since February 2021 with the Oilers.

He has been promoted from the fourth to third forward line, skating alongside Jason Dickinson and Colin Blackwell. His ice time has increased from 12:06 to 15:40 per game.

And during his five-on-five ice time, the Hawks’ team scoring-chance ratio has improved from 33.3% to 44.8%. That is still below the break-even point, but it’s better than most of his teammates; breaking even analytically on this tanking Hawks team has proven to be nearly impossible.

“It’s the same mindset I always have,” Khaira said. “But right now, they’re going in. So I’ll just try to stay confident and continue to do what I’m doing.

“As long as we’re creating those chances, that’s the main thing. But [to score some] greasy goals, we have to get to the net more and try to be in the right areas for those rebounds and tips and all that.”

Getting to the net is basically the Hawks’ No. 1 instruction for Khaira in any situation, be it in the offensive or defensive zone. He missed that assignment during the Scheifele goal Sunday, but he has been acing it more often than not recently.

“When he’s moving his feet, he’s strong on the puck and he can make things happen,” Richardson said. “When he stops moving his feet, he gets stuck on the wall on certain things, then he gets glued into the puck — as anybody would.

“He’s just trying to get into a rhythm … and he’s doing a good job for us. [In] versatile roles, he’s great.”

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The Blackhawks’ third-period rally Wednesday against the Oilers shared some similarities with the Stars’ epic third-period rally against the Hawks last Wednesday.

But that Stars’ rally succeeded. The Hawks’ rally did not. And both games ultimately resulted in regulation losses for the Hawks, whose 5-4 defeat against Edmonton marked their eighth straight and 14th in their last 16 games.

“If we play with that desperation, a little bit of emotion in our game, like we did in the third period, it can go a long way,” forward MacKenzie Entwistle said. “Now we see it. We’ve seen it for the past couple games now. We just have to get out of this little drought.”

Max Domi and Entwistle scored 19 seconds apart to cut the Oilers’ lead to 4-3 with seven minutes left, then Domi scored again to cut the Oilers’ lead to 5-4 with 71 seconds left, and the Hawks generated a golden chance for Taylor Raddysh to tie the game with 13.9 seconds left. But Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner made the save and the visitors held on.

Outside of those fleeting moments of Hawks hope, the Oilers’ blindingly bright star duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl largely controlled the game. They combined for three goals and five points, including two beautifully executed two-on-one rushes.

“If they’re on a two-on-one, the damage is done,” Hawks coach Luke Richardson. “Even when they’re on a two-on-four, it’s difficult.”

The Oilers outshot the Hawks 41-25, peppering Hawks goalie Arvid Soderblom with pressure– including quite a few shots off the post not included in that total. The Hawks’ new first line featuring Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews together did not fare particularly well; they were outshot 9-2 and outscored 3-0 during their five-on-five time together.

Richardson sounded skeptical when asked if the Hawks could’ve tried to play with their third-period desperation for the full 60 minutes, responding that he believed the Hawks’ breakdowns were more due to over-aggression than a lack of it.

“We [were] playing forceful and taking chances because we’re behind,” he said. “I don’t think you can do that against this team. We gave them way too many outnumbered chances as it is.”

“It is good to see that we do fight back to the end. But we have to be more stingy defensively without taking away from our offense.”

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A disappointing start to the season turned worse Wednesday night in Phoenix as Devin Booker torched the Chicago Bulls

The Chicago Bulls faced the Phoenix Suns Wednesday night and Suns Guard Devin Booker decided to put on a show against a struggling Bulls team.

Booker started off hot, scoring 25 points in the first half on 10-14 from the field, with the Suns leading at the half 64-43.

Things only got worse for Chicago, who allowed Booker to score 26(!) in the third quarter alone, with this dunk pushing him past the 50-point mark before the third quarter ended.

That dunk put the proverbial nail in the coffin, with Booker not playing in the fourth. The Suns won 132-113 with Booker finishing with 51 points on 20-25 field goals, six made threes, and even tossed in four rebounds and six assists.

He even got a reaction from Kevin Durant:

For our Bulls, DeMar DeRozan led the way with 29 points and seven rebounds, and Zach LaVine finished with 21 points. No Bull finished with a positive plus/minus in this game. The Bulls are now 9-12 on the season and are in 11th place in the Eastern Conference.

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PHOENIX — Bulls guard Zach LaVine didn’t flinch when discussing his recent shooting slump.

And why should he? He’s from the school of ”shooters gotta shoot,” and he graduated summa cum laude.

”I’m confident in what I do,” LaVine said. ”I work at it every single day, and it’s coming. I’m going to keep taking those shots, and pretty soon I’ll be back to doing what I do.”

It didn’t happen Wednesday against the Suns and guard Devin Booker.

All Booker did was steal the show, scoring 51 points in three quarters, as the Bulls (9-12) were throttled 132-113.

As for LaVine, he continued to be very un-LaVine-like in his shooting, going a respectable 7-for-15 from the field but only 1-for-6 from three-point range.

In the eight games leading into the matchup against the Suns — perhaps LaVine’s worst shooting slump in years — he had shot 57-for-153 (37%) from the field and 21-for-72 (29%) from three-point range. He had been even worse late in games, shooting only 17-for-49 (34.7%) in the fourth quarter, including 8-for-28 (28.6%) from three-point range.

To put that in perspective, during his breakout All-Star season in 2020-21, LaVine shot 50.7% from the field and 41.9% from three-point range and averaged 27.4 points.

That seemed like a long time ago with the way he had shot the ball through the second half of November.

In LaVine’s defense, he did have surgery on his left knee last spring — before the Bulls signed him to a five-year, $215 million max contract — so his usual summer workout program was compromised. But there’s also more going on than just rust.

LaVine had been asked about missing bunnies at the rim and his overall inconsistency several times this season and would give a generic answer about ”getting closer.”

He went into more detail about the topic when he was asked specifically whether it was mental or physical obstacles that he still was dealing with.

”It’s just timing,”’ LaVine said. ”Nothing mental. I didn’t get to play — didn’t get to shoot — as much as I usually do [in the offseason], but it’s coming. It’s timing. There’s stretches I’m feeling like my old self and then other stretches where I’m trying to get that timing right.

”But I’m not going to be too hard on myself. It’s frustrating because I don’t expect to be shooting like this. I hold myself to an extremely high standard. But I’ve got to understand that for me to get out of this, I’ve got to stay confident and continue to take my shots. I know that. I work too hard at this, so it’s going to come through and I’ll be getting back to what I do.”

The problem Wednesday was a defense that allowed Booker to do what he does.

Like LaVine, Booker signed a contract extension during the summer, but his was a super-max deal that will pay him $224 million over four years.

All Booker did in the first half against the Bulls was go 10-for-14 from the field for 25 points. He then went 10-for-11 and scored 26 points in the third quarter.

”[Booker] got too much in a rhythm, and when a guy like that gets hot, it’s too late,” LaVine said. ”He gets it going, and it’s over.”

Even with coach Billy Donovan trying everything he could to slow Booker down.

”We threw everything at him,” Donovan said. ”We trapped him, threw a box-and-one at him. He really, really got it going.”

Donovan’s hope is that LaVine can follow suit — and soon.

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Kevin Durant is a name that is brought up by a Bulls beat writer in terms of a dream trade

The 2022-23 NBA season hasn’t started off on the right foot for the Chicago Bulls, and recently the team has been subject of trade rumors.

Most of those rumors involve the Bulls blowing it up and trading away DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Coby White, Nikola Vucevic and more. That would usher in a rebuild in the Windy City, which is something the franchise may not want to do.

But on Wednesday, a Bulls insider had a suggestion that the team should key in on one superstar player — Kevin Durant.

Bulls reporter Sam Smith talked about the Bulls and recent wins over the Bucks and Celtics in his mailbag from November 25th. In there, he mentions that he’d make a run at a player like Kevin Durant if he was available:

“The Nets remain the ground zero of the NBA with star players and average results. They’re always one losing streak (or Durant crisis of conscience) from that new direction. There seems no way they bring back free agent Irving after this season, and though Ben Simmons has played better of late, that guy from a few years ago seems gone. Durant is just starting his last best four years of his career with a new contract. If he’s there and I’m the Bulls, I’m all in unless they believe they have a title team now,”

Interesting.

Now, this doesn’t say that the Bulls will indeed pursue him but more that he would take a chance on Durant if he’s there.

Either way, the Bulls are going to have to make some decisions in the coming months with this roster.

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Anthony Demirov is just a sophomore, but he has the scoring ability to carry his team for a crucial quarter and the confidence and resolve to knock down free throws with the game on the line.

Demirov’s two free throws with 0.8 seconds left gave Crystal Lake South a 41-39 win against Dundee-Crown on Wednesday in Carpentersville.

“My teammates were hyping me up and telling me to go hit the free throws to win the game,” Demirov said. “It gave me a lot of confidence.”

Demirov finished with a game-high 21 points. He scored all 10 of the Gators’ points in the fourth quarter.

“My teammates did a good job of creating shots for me and [Crystal Lake South coach Matt LePage told me to keep shooting,” Demirov said.

The Gators (5-0, 1-0 Fox Valley) led 19-6 early and 31-23 late in the third quarter but Dundee-Crown’s big man duo of 6-8 Kuba Senczyszyn (13 points, nine rebounds) and 6-6 Tyler DiSilvio (nine points, five rebounds) led an energetic rebounding effort the got the Chargers (1-3, 0-1) back in the game.

Kali Freeman’s steal and basket with 1:26 to play pulled Dundee-Crown within two points and two free throws from DiSilvio tied the game with 56 seconds to play.

The Chargers inbounded the ball after Demirov’s free throws but weren’t able to get a shot off.

“[Demirov] shoots a little over 90 percent [from the free-throw line] so it was the right guy in that spot,” LePage said. “Between him and [Cooper LePage] one of them had to make a play there in the closing seconds and he [Demirov] had the ball and saw a little window and took it to the basket.”

Cooper LePage, Matt’s son, is a four-year varsity player for the Gators. He’s signed with Northern Michigan. The senior finished with 11 points and five rebounds.

“We all trusted [Demirov] at the end and he came up big,” Cooper LePage said. “That’s just the start. He’s going to be a very good player.”

Junior Zach Randi contributed eight points for Dundee-Crown and Freeman finished with six points, five rebounds and three steals.

“We’ve played five close games and we have five wins,” Matt LePage said. “That’s a good thing but we are just taking it game by game. We have a lot of experience but also a lot of new guys.

“Burlington Central hasn’t lost a conference game in 27 or 28 games. So until they get beat it is their conference. That’s the way I look at it. But I think it will be a balanced conference this year and you know, a win on the road at Dundee-Crown is big for us.”

Watch the final minute of Crystal Lake South at Dundee-Crown:

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PHOENIX – Billy Donovan would have loved nothing more than actually giving a positive update on point guard Lonzo Ball on Wednesday.

Unfortunately for the Bulls coach, there just aren’t a whole lot of those right now.

While there’s been no setbacks for Ball and his recovery from a second left knee surgery back in September, the progress forward also remained very slow.

Enough so that Donovan said, “To be honest with you, there’s a lot of people that have tried to wrap their head around this in terms of trying to figure it out.”

The “figuring out” part remained the pain that Ball was still experiencing in the knee as they try and move him along through the rehabilitation.

Last month, the update was Ball was at least on a treadmill in the water, but a source told the Sun-Times that when they’ve tried to get him beyond that onto the next steps, the pain has persisted.

Not exactly what the organization was hoping for when they acquired Ball in a sign-and-trade, and now haven’t seen him play in a game since Jan. 14.

“It’s not like I can give you any report, ‘Hey, he’s running, he’s cutting, he’s jumping, he’s doing individual skill work, the next step is we’ve got to get him some contact.’ ” Donovan said. “To be honest with you we’re not even close to that.”

What Donovan would rule out is the organization having a set date in which they just shut Ball down for the season. Like last year, Ball is still 100% committed to try and return to the court as soon as possible, even with the slow progress.

“I haven’t been a part of any discussions like that at all,” Donovan said, when discussing shutting Ball down. “It’s been more about how to get him back on the floor to where he’s playing. We haven’t gotten that far. I feel bad for him because I feel like he’s worked hard to try and get back. He’s a young guy, he’s a really good player, and you hate to see a guy – I guess it’s another month or so, right, that’s coming up on a year? I hurt for him because he’s a great guy, he loves playing, and when something like that is taken away from a guy you feel bad for him.”

While Ayo Dosunmu has done a solid job trying to fill Ball’s spot in the starting lineup, he simply can’t duplicate what Ball does. Few can. Not only is Ball the team’s best two-way player, causing havoc on the defensive end, but his ability to rebound and push the ball up the floor is visibly missed.

“He has his mind, his heart, everything set on getting himself back this year,” Donovan said. “But there’s no timetable. That’s where he’s at mentally. That’s what he’s working towards. I have no timetable for it. But if it gets so far into the year, there’s that [shutting him down]. But there’s also a piece to a guy being out and getting some games under his belt to getting back to playing.”

Contract talk

Donovan was still discussing the secret contract extension the Bulls signed him to back in the fall, and had a very honest answer when asked if he felt he deserved to get an extension.

“I don’t know if anybody deserves anything,” Donovan said. “I never have. I always looked at it the other way, I looked at it as being fortunate to have an opportunity to go to work every single day.”

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The Denver Broncos signed a former Bears player

The Denver Broncos are having a difficult season. The Broncos are on the receiving end of a deal the Chicago Bears tried to make under general manager Ryan Pace. Betting the farm on the unstable arm of Russell Wilson hasn’t worked out for the Broncos. Their inability to score points will likely get first-year head coach Nathaniel Hackett fired, as the Broncos’ record sits at 3-8 before Week 13.

Like most NFL teams, the Broncos are dealing with injuries during the long 18-week NFL season. They’ve had injuries in their secondary. According to the NFL’s transaction wire, the Broncos signed former Bears cornerback Lamar Jackson this week. Jackson was signed by the Jets in 2020 undrafted rookie free agent. The Bears signed Jackson to a reserve/future contract this offseason. The Bears waived Jackson this past week.

Even with several injuries in the secondary, Jackson couldn’t make the Bears’ active roster. The Bears have since added a cornerback to the practice squad.

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