Things were starting look up for the Chicago Bulls and the New Orleans Pelicans.
But both teams have hit hard times in recent days leading up to their meeting Wednesday night in Chicago.
The Bulls (15-17) had won five straight games before losing their last two. Of greater concern are the injuries that happened Monday night.
Guards Coby White and Josh Giddey, the team’s top two scorers, were both injured during the first half of a 136-101 home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Both are listed out against the Pels as White deals with right calf tightness and Giddey copes with left hamstring tightness. Meanwhile, backup center Zach Collins will miss at least a week because of a sprained right big toe.
“Are the injuries impactful? Yes,” Chicago head coach Billy Donovan said, “but these guys are all pros and are here to play.”
White, who averages 19.2 points to tie Giddey for the team lead, missed the first 11 games of the season because of a strain to the same calf. He hadn’t played on back-to-back days until last week. Giddey is second to Nikola Jokic in the NBA with seven triple-doubles.
“Those are two of the guys (Giddey and White) that usually have the ball in their hands for this team, that play-make for this team,” said Bulls forward Isaac Okoro. “But at the end of the day, we’ve got to step up as a team. Everybody has to be a little better, take it up a notch but still play their game.”
The Pelicans won five consecutive games earlier this month — their longest streak since December 2022 — but that has been followed by a four-game losing streak.
The last three losses have been by single digits, including a 130-125 home loss to New York on Monday when New Orleans got outscored 13-8 down the stretch.
“We have to close better,” New Orleans interim head coach James Borrego said. “We’ve just got to keep knocking on the door and eventually we’ll bust through.”
Leading scorer Zion Williamson returned to the starting lineup against the Knicks after coming off the bench for seven straight games. Borrego decided to bring Williamson off the bench while he was on a minutes restriction, which was put into place after his missed six games due to a strained hamstring.
“We knew it was just a matter of time before I’d get back in (the starting lineup),” Williamson said. “It was just a matter of when my minutes would go up so we can get the most out of them.”
Williamson, who scored a season-high 32 points against New York, came off the bench for the first time in his career when the Pelicans defeated the Bulls 114-104 on Dec. 14 in Chicago. That was their second win against the Bulls, whom they defeated 143-130 on Nov. 24 in New Orleans.
The Pelicans outrebounded the Bulls 55-33 in the first meeting and 53-43 in the second meeting, but rebounding has been problematic for them. They’re tied for 23rd in the NBA in rebounding margin (minus-2.4).
Borrego has prioritized getting better on the boards and New Orleans outrebounded New York 50-42.
“We found something there that we can build on,” he said.
