After guard Tre Jones splashed his corner three in the fourth quarter to cut the Clippers’ lead to two, Coby White walked onto the court and hugged his new teammate.
With around six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, newcomers Kevin Huerter, Zach Collins and Jones were on the floor, accompanied by Lonzo Ball and Josh Giddey.
But the new guys had earned the right to try and close out the Clippers. Collins scored 21 points and had a career-high 17 rebounds, Huerter scored 13 points and Jones added 16.
In fact, it was a lineup that featured Jones in the second quarter that engineered a 7-2 run to give the Bulls new life after they fell behind by as many as 12 points.
But it wasn’t enough as the Bulls fell to the Clippers 122-117. They couldn’t overcome their turnovers or hit shots down the stretch when they needed to.
“It shows where we’re at,” said Giddey, who recorded his fourth straight double-double with 21 points and 12 assists. “We’re right there with Phoenix and New York. We’ve been in every game, but the three losses we had after the break we’ve showed that we can compete with anybody.
“We put ourselves in a position to win games, and it’s just a matter of figuring out how to close these games out.”
Lue’s Jordan memories
The Clippers’ Tyronn Lue is the one head coach in the league who can say he played with Michael Jordan. As he returned on Wednesday to coach the Clippers, the visit elicited some fond memories for Lue from his playing days with the Wizards, for whom Jordan played with from 2001-03.
“This place was electric,” Lue said.
Lue remembered former Bulls PA announcer Ray Clay giving Jordan his patented pregame introduction. Even past his prime, Jordan’s presence was still felt. Lue said he enjoyed “just having the opportunity to play with somebody you looked up to and idolized all those years and have a chance to play with him.”
Injury updates
• Ayo Dosunmu missed his third straight game with a shoulder injury that occurred in the Bulls’ 113-111 overtime loss to the Knicks last week. Coach Billy Donovan said Dosunmu is still dealing with soreness.
“Until they can get that calmed down, going forward, throughout the year, the program that he’s been on in terms of maintaining his strength is going to be important,” Donovan said.
• Nikola Vucevic missed his third game of the season with right calf tightness. The model of durability, Vucevic absences are rare — he’s missed just 18 games over the past four seasons.
“[We’re] not worried about anything being serious,” Donovan said. “What they’re concerned about is him having some discomfort there and some soreness there, and not having it linger into something. So, they’ve been pretty proactive with him. I really trust Vooch.
“The one thing about him is he’s a guy that always plays through stuff. So, when he’s talking about something, it’s something we probably just need to make sure we really manage. He’s been really good in terms of being in the league for a long time and knowing his body.”
• Donovan said most of center Jalen Smith’s symptoms have subsided and that he’s started the process to get back on the court.