Guard Lonzo Bal<\/b>l turned in another five-minute stint Tuesday against the Pelicans.<\/p>\n
He scored six points on 2-for-3 shooting from three-point range, had an assist and played his usual solid defense to help the Bulls hold down a first-quarter lead.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to start taking that for granted, which is crazy, considering that Ball \u2014 who finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists in 25 minutes in the Bulls\u2019 119-113 loss to the lowly Pelicans \u2014 missed 2\u0153 seasons and went through a procedure on his left knee that no pro athlete previously had come back from successfully.<\/p>\n
Now he\u2019s becoming a mainstay off the bench, and his minutes slowly are rising into the mid-20s.<\/p>\n
What won\u2019t change in the immediate future, however, is the restriction on him playing in back-to-back games. Coach Billy Donovan<\/b> let it be known before the game against the Pelicans that Ball will sit out Wednesday against the Hawks.<\/p>\n
Still, it has been a pretty remarkable story.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018I didn\u2019t know what to expect [of Ball] because a lot of the workouts that I watched were one-on-one, and I didn\u2019t see him play five-on-five,\u2019\u2019 Donovan said, reflecting back to the beginning of training camp. \u2018\u2018I got pretty optimistic when training camp started. I was able to see he was running and doing the things he was doing. He [just] needed to get his timing back.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018I really felt .\u2009.\u2009. \u2018If this guy continues on the path he\u2019s on right now and he gets his timing back, he can be a very productive player for us.\u2019 That gave me a lot of hope.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
What has been even nicer for all involved is that Ball has been an active participant in practices, walkthroughs and shootarounds between games.<\/p>\n
There was some speculation Ball might be someone who would play in a game, then be completely shut down between games to get in his rehab work and his regular maintenance. Donovan, however, said that hasn\u2019t been the case.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018When we\u2019ve had practices, he\u2019s been a part of the self-regulation, but he gets into the five-on-five,\u2019\u2019 Donovan said. \u2018\u2018He stays on the maintenance part \u2014 the things he has to do with his lifting, keeping the legs strong \u2014 but it\u2019s not like he\u2019s playing in the game and we\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, my God, we\u2019ve got all this maintenance to do just to get him back on the court.\u2019 That has not happened. With the back-to-backs, we certainly don\u2019t want to get him to that place.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Guard Ayo Dosunmu<\/b> missed his 10th game with an injured right calf, but he has made enough progress the last two days in scrimmages that he should return Wednesday against the Hawks.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018His ramp-up over these last four or five days has been good, and he\u2019s responded really well,\u2019\u2019 Donovan said. \u2018\u2018He was a full participant in shootaround [Tuesday], but he\u2019s responded very well. The feeling is he\u2019ll play if everything continues on the path it\u2019s on right now.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Dosunmu averaged 14.2 points on 51.5% shooting from the field in nine games in December.<\/p>\n
Forward Patrick Williams<\/b> understands the Bulls are a different team when he plays well. The issue remains him getting to a point where he\u2019s playing well consistently, not just in flashes.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018It makes us a better team,\u2019\u2019 Williams said when discussing the solid games he has put together this season. \u2018\u2018I think we all kind of feel that, and I think you guys [the media] feel that, too. That\u2019s why you keep asking me about it. I\u2019m trying to figure it out, too.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ball will keep sitting out a game in back-to-backs. But his minutes have climbed, and coach Billy Donovan says he has been a full participant in practices and shootarounds between games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":26043,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\n