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PHOENIX \u2013 If it was November or December, it would have likely been a much different scenario for Josh Giddey.<\/p>\n
With the Bulls fighting for their play-in seeding lives, however, and just 13 more regular season games left? As far as the point guard was concerned, it was all hands-on deck, bad ankle and all.<\/p>\n
Not only did Giddey make his return on Wednesday against the Suns after missing the last two games with the injury, but played pretty well, scoring 22 points and playing just over 30 minutes. The same couldn\u2019t be said for the Bulls as a team, losing 127-121 and dropping to 29-40 on the season.<\/p>\n
If there was a spark of hope from the evening it was that Miami also lost, so the Bulls stayed in the No. 9 spot of the Eastern Conference seedings.<\/p>\n
As for Giddey, don\u2019t rule him out of the playing in the back-to-back in Sacramento on Thursday, which was not the plan at the start of this road trip.<\/p>\n
As late as Tuesday, Giddey was supposed to play in one of the back-to-backs and sit the other.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this point of the year every game is must-win and we\u2019re trying to make a push to the playoffs, so these last (13) games are critical and every one of them matters, so you want to be out there as much as you can, and I definitely do, so if I\u2019m good to go I\u2019ll play,\u201d Giddey said. \u201cObviously, it will be a discussion between me and the medical team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Good news for Giddey, but even better news for the Bulls.<\/p>\n
In his previous nine games since the All-Star Break, all Giddey did was average 23.1 points, 10.9 rebounds and 8.4 assist per game, while shooting a ridiculous 52.5% from three-point range. Besides Coby White, Giddey has been the team\u2019s best player.<\/p>\n
That was again on display as White scored 24, matching Nikola Vucevic\u2019s 24, while Giddey added seven rebounds and six assists.<\/p>\n
The issue was once again star power, as the Suns \u2013 as dysfunctional as they\u2019ve been \u2013 had it, and the Bulls didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Kevin Durant helped build the first-half lead for Phoenix, scoring 17 of his 26 points going into halftime, and then it was the Devin Booker show as he scored 33 of his game-high 41 points in the second half.<\/p>\n
The Bulls won\u2019t have much recovery time, off to Sacramento for the quick turnaround game, but Giddey sounded like a go.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the workout stuff he\u2019s done, he\u2019s responded really well,\u201d Donovan said. \u201cHe did live contact the last two workouts he had. We\u2019re fortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ball won\u2019t head west<\/b><\/p>\n
Giddey\u2019s return plan isn\u2019t the only one changing. Guard Lonzo Ball (right wrist) was expected to join the Bulls in Los Angeles this weekend but will stay back in Chicago, Donovan said.<\/p>\n
Ball has been rehabbing the wrist and has made enough progress the last few days that the Bulls don\u2019t want to interrupt it by having him take a day off to travel.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s feeling better, hopefully starting to shoot,\u201d Donovan said. \u201cFor the first time, I think he felt comfortable breaking his wrist down. They\u2019ve tried to really stay on top of his conditioning and balance [his surgically repaired] knee, but unfortunately it\u2019s been a really slow process.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ball has been running a lot to keep his conditioning up, but he needs his right hand for his skills to matter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure he\u2019s tired of running, but he\u2019s got to get more with the ball,\u201d Donovan said. \u201cI think the more he can do that, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Pitino\u2019s corner<\/b><\/p>\n
Donovan played for legendary college coach Rick Pitino and also coached under him at Kentucky. Although Donovan, who made his mark at Florida, was pulling for the Gators in the NCAA Tournament, St.\u2009\u2009John\u2019s \u2014 coached by Pitino \u2014 is next on his list of teams he wants to see do well.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing through [all the issues Pitino went through] and then having to go to Greece to coach, and then going to Iona, speaks to how much he loves coaching and loves the game of basketball,\u201d Donovan said. \u201cHe\u2019s always going to be around it. For me, personally, I\u2019m really, really happy for him just because of the journey he\u2019s had to go through.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n