![\"\"](\"https:\/\/nbahang.aweu.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nikola-vucevic-offers-telling-statement-on-bulls-recent-surge-thanh-hang.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe Chicago Bulls logged their sixth win in their last nine outings, a stretch which includes their first winning streak of the season.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
After a 5-14 start to the campaign, the wins \u2013 and the approach \u2013 have rejuvenated the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been enjoying playing,\u201d said Nikola Vu\u010devi\u0107, per Sam Smith of Bulls.com on December 19. \u201cEach night it\u2019s a different guy stepping up. All of us are supporting each other. You can just feel that. And when you play that way, it\u2019s contagious and just brings out positive energy and guys enjoy playing with each other. We haven\u2019t been as stagnant as we were early on.\u201d<\/p>\n
So what changed? Vucevic points to their aggressive and unselfish play on the floor keeping everyone involved.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been getting downhill, finding the open guy, making the extra pass. That\u2019s how you get everybody involved. The ball is going to find the main scorers and it\u2019s our job to find everyone else and involve everyone and it\u2019s contagious when you do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The easy answer for anyone on the outside would be to point to the absence of Zach LaVine.<\/p>\n
LaVine has missed the last nine games with foot inflammation. The Bulls also have a better net efficiency differential without LaVine (plus-0.1) than they do with him (minus-8.1), per Cleaning The Glass.<\/p>\n
Nikola Vucevic Taking Advantage of Bulls\u2019 Surge
\nWhile he has never mentioned LaVine by name, Vucevic has been vocal in the past about everyone needing to be more willing to sacrifice for the greater good.<\/p>\n
He has also pointed to how much he has had to sacrifice since the Bulls acquired him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know what works, so we have to stick with and continue to trust one another whether the ball is going in or not, play for each other,\u201d Vucevic said, per Smith. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of work ahead, but a good first step and we understand this is the only way it\u2019s going to work for us and we have to stay with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vucevic has been a big beneficiary of how the team has played of late.<\/p>\n
He has averaged 19.4 points on 51.5% true shooting with 11.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.1 blocks in that nine-game span.<\/p>\n
Insider Sheds Light on Zach LaVine\u2019s Return Timeline
\nChris Haynes of Bleacher Report reported that LaVine was aiming for the first week of January for his return, roughly one month from when he first went down.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look at LaVine and his health status, I\u2019m told that he could possibly return from his injury probably the first week of January,\u201d Haynes said on December 18. \u201cSo it\u2019s still a little time with him being out. He wants to make sure he doesn\u2019t have any setbacks when he returns.\u201d<\/p>\n
That is in line with the initial diagnosis.<\/p>\n
Head coach Billy Donovan did note that LaVine would need a \u201cramp up\u201d period before getting back out on the floor for a game. Donovan also spoke to just what kind of teammate LaVine has been during his time off the court.<\/p>\n
Billy Donovan said Zach LaVine has started straight-ahead running and light shooting with no setbacks. Said LaVine will need \u201csome kind of ramp-up of physical activity in a practice or against player development guys\u201d whenever he\u2019s cleared before he plays.<\/p>\n
\u2014 K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 18, 2023<\/p>\n
\u201cHe really, really misses the game,\u201d Donovan said, per NBC Sports Chicago\u2019s K.C. Johnson on December 18. \u201cThe other thing is he has really been great on the bench, in the locker room pulling for those guys. Whenever he\u2019s able to get back with us, he\u2019s always been a good team guy. He\u2019s always had [a] good response to his teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Chicago Bulls logged their sixth win in their last nine outings, a stretch which includes their first winning streak of the season. After a 5-14 start… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":73202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}