Chicago’s season-ending road clash with the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday will be Bulls coach Billy Donovan’s 482nd regular-season game on the bench.
Speculation continues to swirl that it may also be his last, what with the 60-year-old Hall of Fame coach linked to a shift to Chicago’s front office.
Those whispers gained traction in the wake of the Bulls’ big off-court shakeup on Monday, when executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley were fired after nearly six seasons in charge.
Only legendary Phil Jackson (738) and Dick Motta (656) have coached more Bulls games than Donovan.
The Bulls (31-50) will finish in 12th place in the Eastern Conference, missing the playoffs for the fourth straight season.
Despite their struggles, forward Matas Buzelis threw his full support behind Donovan when speaking after Chicago’s 127-103 loss to the Orlando Magic on Friday.
“After the GMs got fired, I told (Donovan), ‘I hope you don’t leave. I’m riding with you forever. You’re a cornerstone for my career. I don’t want you to go anywhere,’ ” Buzelis said.
Buzelis, who returned from a three-game absence with illness, sustained a sprained right ankle against the Magic to join Josh Giddey (left hamstring strain) and Isaac Okoro (quadriceps) on the sideline.
Giddey, who leads the Bulls in scoring (17.0 points per game), assists (9.1) and rebounds (8.3), will finish the season missing the team’s last five games.
Tre Jones impressed with 23 points against Orlando, his fourth straight 20-plus outing.
Dallas (25-56) has endured an even more disappointing campaign, its most recent setback a 139-120 defeat against the host San Antonio Spurs on Friday.
One shining light in San Antonio was another banner performance from Cooper Flagg, who poured in 33 points.
One of the features of the game was Flagg going basket-for-basket with Spurs superstar Victor Webanyama, who racked up 40 points in 26 minutes.
“I thought Coop had an incredible game and set the tone early for us,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “You look at Victor — and he’s been in the league (three years), he was also Rookie of the Year — understanding now he’s one of the best players in the world. To see what Coop did … he was finding guys, he was scoring the ball, he was competing at a very high level. That just shows the leadership of our rookie and it’s good to see this late in the season.”
Flagg’s 21.2 scoring average tops the Mavs and also leads all rookies, while his average of 4.6 assists per game ranks second among first-year players. He only trails teammate Ryan Nembhard (5.0 apg).
Flagg’s jump shot has turned into a more consistent weapon as his debut season has unfolded.
“Just being aggressive, getting to my spots,” he said when asked about the evolution of his jumper. “I’ve just got more and more confident as the year’s gone on … (I’m) learning a ton. Just being selective with taking the shots that I want to take, and living with the outcome of those shots and not letting the defense dictate what I do.”
Chicago won this season’s previous meeting with Dallas, 125-107 on Jan. 10 at home. Flagg was held to 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting. (Reuters)
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