The Chicago Bulls have lost four straight games, and their skid might not be over yet. All-Star guard Zach LaVine is expected to miss several games after entering into the NBA's health and safety protocol, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. The Bulls also called off practice on Thursday due to league protocols. At this point it's not clear exactly how many games LaVine will have to miss, or if any other Bulls players will be forced to miss time. Several Bulls players received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine last week, though it's not known exactly which players got the shot.
LaVine's upcoming absence comes at a tough time for the Bulls, who are in the midst of a tight battle for playoff positioning in the East. They currently sit 10th overall in the conference, which is the last seed that qualifies for the play-in tournament. Their hold on that spot is slim though, as they're only one game up on the Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards. Even with LaVine, the Bulls were in the midst of a tough stretch, losing not just four straight, but also seven out of their last 10.
The Bulls have five games scheduled over the next week, starting with the Grizzlies in Chicago on Friday night. Then they host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night before going on the road for a game in Boston on Monday night and another one in Cleveland on Wednesday night. They'll then return home to host the Hornets next Thursday. Obviously winning any of those games will become a much tougher task without LaVine, who is in the midst of the best campaign of his career. On the season, LaVine is averaging 27.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists per performance -- all career highs.
In LaVine's absence, Garrett Temple will likely step into a starting spot, while the Bulls will be forced to run even more of their offense through the recently acquired Nikola Vucevic. The Bulls landed Vucevic at the trade deadline, and he has played in 11 games and averaged 22.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per performance for Chicago so far. Ultimately, the Bulls just have to hope that LaVine isn't forced to miss too much game action, or they could easily fall outside of the playoff picture in the East.
