Timberwolves 136, Bulls 101: Coby White, Josh Giddey exit with injuries in deflating loss

Some games just don’t go your way.

Others rub it in your face.

The Chicago Bulls’ 136-101 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves squarely falls into the latter category.

The third quarter was an absolute nightmare for the Bulls. Not only did they see their deficit balloon from five to 17, but both Coby White (right calf) and Josh Giddey (left hamstring) were also ruled out for the remainder of the game.

White left the game after just seven minutes with what appeared to be a lower leg injury. He was later ruled out with a calf injury on his right leg and did not return. This is the same calf he injured in August that held him out of training camp, preseason and the first 11 games of the season. This is extremely unfortunate for White, who had just played his first back-to-back on Friday and Saturday, and was beginning to round into form despite still playing his way into shape. 

If that wasn’t enough, Giddey gingerly walked off the floor just 30 seconds into the second half, holding his left hamstring. He was ruled out for the remainder of the game shortly thereafter. Hopefully, this won’t keep Giddey out long as he attempts to make a push for his first All-Star appearance.

Anthony Edwards put on a show, drilling mid-range jumper after mid-range jumper in the house that Jordan built for an efficient 23 points. But it was Naz Reid that led the way for the Wolves with a season-high 33, who led by as many as 41, won by 35.

Meanwhile, the Bulls drop their second game in a row following their five-game win streak. They’re down to 15-17 on the season, still in the ninth seed amid Atlanta’s struggles. Who knows how long these injuries will hold out White and Giddey, but the Bulls will need to find ways not to let this unravel their next stretch of games as previous injuries have.

Up next: The Bulls will face off with the New Orleans Pelicans on New Year’s Eve. This is the third matchup with the Pelicans already this season, a rare occurrence that the Bulls play a Western Conference Opponent three times. The Bulls lost the previous two matchups with the Pelicans, who are quietly playing much better of late. Although they are on a three-game losing streak, they won their previous five games, bringing them to 8-25 ahead of their Monday evening matchup with the New York Knicks. 

Tune into the CHGO Bulls postgame live:

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The Bulls playing at full health didn’t last long. Zach Collins left Saturday’s game late with a big toe sprain that will keep him out for at least the rest of the week, per Billy Donovan.

“I feel bad for (Collins),” Donovan said. “I think he’s played very well, and obviously, coming out of the wrist injury and the break — and I think keeping himself in shape, and then him coming back — I think he made a pretty significant impact and allowed us to play big. And just his physicality is rebounding, some of the things he did screening-wise, I think really, really helped us. So, you know, we can still certainly use (Nikola Vucevic) and Jalen (Smith) together, but I just feel bad he’s out because of how well he was playing.”

Though it is a small sample, the double-big lineups have been effective for Donovan, as the extra size has helped with defensive rebounding and rim protection without sacrificing pace, shooting and spacing. 

“I think the numbers would say that, and I know it’s probably in the analytics world where they call a small sample size, it’s been positive with the two bigs out there,” Donovan said.

“I think that the simplicity of that is (Collins) is really a primary roller to the rim, and I think (Smith)  has been a guy that’s more ‘space the floor’,” Donovan said. “I think (Vucevic) can do both. So I think they’re going to have to basically play off of each other a little bit more. It’s kind of a little bit there’s, there’s like no ambiguity when (Collins) screens, of what he’s doing.”

With Collins out, the Bulls can still utilize Smith and Vucevic together, which they did again against the Timberwolves, but it will also give Matas Buzelis and Patrick Williams more opportunity to extend their run. 

— Will Gottlieb  

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The Bulls were looking solid in the early going tonight, even through some turnover issues.

…Then Edwards started trying. And things went south from there.

Adding insult to injury, seeing White leave with a calf injury is a gut punch. Hoping for good news on severity of injury and timetable, but not expecting it. Whether it’s to help them get wins or to showcase a guy they’re ready to trade, not having White on the floor this time of year is bad, bad news.

Adding injury to that insult, Giddey left early in the third quarter with an apparent hamstring injury. 

This “deep” Bulls team looks a heck of a lot less deep when a couple key guys leave the rotation. We already learned that during their seven-game losing streak. We re-learned it tonight.

Man, I really wish the Bulls had a talent to the caliber of Edwards. Or a front office that knew they didn’t have one. And desperately need one. And had a plan to do something about that.

But the holidays are over. Wishing time is over.

Time for a revenge game against…the Pelicans! Massive game. Huge.

— Matt Peck   

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Seeing the difference between having a true blue star and not having one.

Conclusion: It sucks not having one.

That White injury was deflating. He was already struggling a little bit while trying to round back into form. Sucks seeing him have to deal with this, especially in the money year.

…And as soon as I say that, Giddey grams his hamstring and he’s out. WTF.

When he scores 4 points: Was that Patrick Lee Williams?!?

When he finishes with 4 points: Yeah. That’s Patrick Lee Williams. Sigh.

Shout-out to Smith. He had a really solid game especially in the 1st half. The Bulls are gonna need him to continue playing this way in this game and the foreseeable future with Collins out.

Anthony Edwards. Sweet Lord, he is special. Why can’t we have one? Oh yeah.

— Big Dave