Ayo, Andre iffy for Hawks
It would seem to be a bad time of year for the Bulls to be undermanned.
Then again, it’s only the Hawks who are coming to town for the first round of the play-in tournament Wednesday. The Hawks closed the regular season with six losses in a row.
So if Bulls coach Billy Donovan has to go without guard Ayo Dosunmu (bruised quad) and big man Andre Drummond (sprained left ankle) yet again, he still will have plenty of ammo left, considering the opponent.
‘‘Ayo is having issues with the running and the starting and the sprinting and the stopping,’’ Donovan told reporters Sunday. ‘‘There’s been some discomfort there for him. He has to get over that hurdle. I think there is hope he can clear those hurdles.’’
Especially because Dosunmu will have several days to do it.
Dosunmu originally suffered the injury last week against the Magic and missed the last four games of the regular season. But his return would give Donovan more backcourt options, and he gives Hawks star Trae Young fits.
In two games against the Bulls this season in which Young was healthy and playing, he went a combined 5-for-23 from three-point range and 9-for-31 from the field. Dosunmu wasn’t the only defender on him, obviously, but he saw heavy minutes guarding Young.
‘‘My length is able to affect him,’’ Dosunmu said after a game in February. ‘‘But he’s a good player, and he brings the competitiveness out. I love competing against him because every play you’ve got to be ready.’’
The other player concerning Donovan is Drummond, who ‘‘still hasn’t been able to do much with the ankle.’’
Not only is Drummond a key backup, but he, too, has been a Hawks killer this season, averaging 14.7 points and 18 rebounds in three games. That included a Dec. 26 showcase in which he started in place of injured Nikola Vucevic and had 24 points and 25 rebounds.
‘‘I don’t know where he’ll be at and if he’ll be able to do anything,’’ Donovan said of Drummond. ‘‘I think there’s some hope that Ayo can participate in some practices before Atlanta. But until he gets past that point, I don’t know. I would just say this: Nobody has told me those guys are definitely in or out for Atlanta. It’s one of those things that’s up in the air.’’
Talking point?
It has been pretty well-documented that rock bottom for the Bulls came in a humiliating 27-point loss in late November in Boston that dropped them to 5-14.
But they bounced back to finish the regular season 39-43 and have a chance to reach the playoffs if they can get out of the play-in round.
‘‘I would say at that point after that Boston game, I didn’t even know if we’d have a chance to play after [the regular season],’’ Donovan said. ‘‘So I think it’s a tribute to what those guys did. But we also paid the price of those 14, 15 games where we didn’t play good enough basketball, which has put us in the situation where we have to earn our way into the playoffs.
‘‘But I really appreciate what those guys have done because of what we’ve had to endure and what we’ve had to overcome.’’
Tough to swallow
Since the Bulls fired Tom Thibodeau after the 2014-15 season, he has gone 14-6 against them with the Timberwolves and Knicks.