The Bulls registered their most impressive win of the season on Thursday in Boston, defeating the defending champion Celtics for their third consecutive victory and increasing their record on the season to 13-15.
As a result of the win, Chicago is now tied with Sacramento for the 10th-worst record in the NBA. That’s notable because the Bulls will send their 2025 first-round pick to San Antonio if it doesn’t end up in the top 10. After scoring a game-high 36 points on Thursday, Zach LaVine made it clear that hanging onto that draft pick isn’t something the Bulls’ players and coaches are thinking about, per Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times.
“Players and coaches never tank. That’s just not going to happen,” LaVine said. “We’re a good team. From all the predictions early on in the year, like we’re better than what people predicted us to be off the talent we have here. We’re competitive, man. You go out there and play like we did, we can beat anybody.”
Of course, while it may be true that players and coaches “never tank,” the same can’t be said of front offices, who are in position to make in-season personnel moves to weaken a team’s roster and improve its draft position. LaVine is one candidate to be dealt by the February 6 deadline, and Cowley hears there’s “light momentum” in talks involving Chicago’s top scorer.
Still, head coach Billy Donovan said that he hasn’t gotten the impression in conversations with head of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas that the front office is in a hurry to start losing.
“The one thing I respect about the organization, and this was even in the summer from exit interviews, meetings, things like that, is I think collectively inside the organization there is an expectation about the integrity of competition and to go out there and put our best foot forward,” Donovan said. “… Nothing has ever been said, ‘Listen, we’ve got to keep this pick so do this and this.’ That is not happening, and I respect that as a coach. I feel like everything we’re doing each and every day is how do we put these guys, ourselves, in the best position to compete and win.”
Here’s more from around the Central:
- The Pacers beat the Suns in Phoenix on Thursday for their third straight win and finally appear to be finding their identity after a shaky start to the season, writes Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. “The practice time the last two weeks has helped us,” head coach Rick Carlisle said of a stretch in which Indiana played three games in 11 days. “It’s helped us regain an edge defensively. Our full-court defense is more of a factor. We just need teams to feel us. Even if we’re not the most physically bruising team, they need to feel our persistence at both ends. I thought we really picked it up tonight.”
- Like the Pacers, the Bucks came out of the gates slowly this fall before reestablishing their identity and hitting their stride. Milwaukee is ahead of where Indiana is, having won 12 of its last 15 regular season games, plus the NBA Cup final. Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (subscription required) takes a closer look at how the Bucks have turned things around, with perennial MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo leading the way. “Getting the ball in Giannis’ hands and letting Giannis dictate action,” head coach Doc Rivers said of the team’s game plan. “He’s our best player. And so, that’s what we’re doing. But, we gotta make sure we get it to him and then we gotta make sure to run to space.”
- Determining whether Jalen Duren and Jaden Ivey are part of the long-term plans is one of the Pistons‘ top priorities this season, according to Keith Langlois of Pistons.com, who notes that both players will be extension-eligible during the 2025 offseason. Within his mailbag, Langlois also answers questions about Detroit’s trade candidates, Ausar Thompson‘s role, and Marcus Sasser‘s development.