BOSTON – It would be hard-pressed to find a better three-on-three game in the downtown Boston area than the one that was taking place on Wednesday morning.

Team Tre Jones vs. Team Josh Giddey, with the end game being make sure all left hamstrings stay intact.

Both players won in that respect.

Now the hope for the Bulls is that Giddey and Jones can get through the All-Star Break with no setbacks and be ready to return next week when the team resumes practice for the final 27 games.

“They’re doing good, they’re ramping up,” coach Billy Donovan said of his two injured guards. “I think the biggest thing is once that tightness goes away, but there’s nothing that’s been so significant they can’t ramp them up. I think they’re just trying to get them to a certain stage where they spend more and more time on the court, and they get past where it’s tight. There have been previous days where it has been tight where, I don’t want to say they back up, but they hold them.

“I do think they are moving in the right direction and they’re not far away. Hopefully the break helps the healing process and hopefully we get them back.”

That’s because there are still major decisions to be made and a short runway to reach them.

The Bulls are keeping the likes of restricted free agent Jaden Ivey and Rob Dillingham (rookie contract) but still want to have conclusions on the futures of unrestricted free agents Collin Sexton and Anfernee Simons.

That means getting a complete view of what that looks like working with Giddey and Jones.
First things first, Donovan still wants to do what he can to get the new guards in better condition to also see how they fit the up-tempo pace the Bulls play at offensively.

That’s why a lot of guys will be taking some homework home with them for the break.

“One of the things we’ve tried to do coming into this break and then coming back, for all these guys, is give them some kind of program and something they can do in terms of their conditioning and what they need to do the next week,” Donovan said. “I get it, it’s the All-Star Break, but the situation these guys are going to be in we need them working to get into better shape with how we’re trying to play.”

Memories

Nikola Vucevic met with the Bulls media before the game against his former teammates and was asked how he most wanted to be remembered in his five years with the franchise.

“Good professional, good teammate, good guy, that would be the main three things,” Vucevic said. “I wish we had more team success. It wasn’t meant to be for different reasons, but I think I established some great relationships that will last a lot longer than I play basketball. I hope the fans remember someone that went out every night and was a true pro, did the best I could.”

Next man down

The frontcourt continued to be paper thin as the team headed into the break, as Isaac Okoro was out because of a sore knee. According to Donovan, Okoro banged his knee in the Denver loss, and it was acting up against Brooklyn.

The team opted to shut him down and get him ready for the final push. Patrick Williams started in Okoro’s place.