As we get further into the Bulls 2020-21 season it's starting to feel similar to last season in terms of injuries. Throughout the majority of last season, the Bulls were playing shorthanded, with key starters being out. Well, this year we are seeing the same situation play out. The injuries began with starting center Wendell Carter Jr. He was injured on January 18th and hasn't seen the floor since. On January 26th the news came out that he would be re-evaluated in four weeks. The injury bug has hit another Bulls starter and he will also be out for an extended period of time.
https://twitter.com/rob_schaef/status/1358819190841475073?s=20
Bulls starting forward Lauri Markkanen has only been active in 14 games this season and now he's going to miss another 2-4 weeks.
If head coach Billy Donovan is going to continue with this lineup they will have to produce as they did against the Magic to have a chance to win. It's going to be tough for this team as they lose a bit of depth coming off the bench. However, it appears that Donovan wants to keep his veteran players coming off the bench instead of inserting them into the starting lineup. The Bulls may be in a good position with Markkanen's replacement as Patrick Williams had his best game of the season in his first start at power forward.
This will be tough for this team
This is going to hurt the Bulls in their current state. Markkanen was out for 7 games earlier in the season due to the league's health and safety protocols. During that stretch, the team went 3-4. They had the majority of their starters during that stretch of games. Now the team will be guaranteed to be playing without two starters for at least the next 2 weeks. This will be tough for the Bulls to get through as Markannen is the second-highest scorer on the team. In the team's previous game without Markkanen, they went with an interesting starting lineup. https://twitter.com/chicagobulls/status/1358197234593112073?s=20 The Bulls decided to go with the three-guard lineup and have forward Patrick Williams jump into Markkanen's spot. The lineup worked out well for them with the starting five producing 90 points. However, they were playing the Orlando Magic. We will have to see how this lineup stacks up against a high caliber opponent.The Bulls schedule over the next two weeks
The Bulls have 8 games over the next 14 days. Of those games, they will be facing 4 teams that are in the top 8 of their conference and two other teams that fall within the top 10 of their conference.
If head coach Billy Donovan is going to continue with this lineup they will have to produce as they did against the Magic to have a chance to win. It's going to be tough for this team as they lose a bit of depth coming off the bench. However, it appears that Donovan wants to keep his veteran players coming off the bench instead of inserting them into the starting lineup. The Bulls may be in a good position with Markkanen's replacement as Patrick Williams had his best game of the season in his first start at power forward.
