(670 The Score) Bulls guard Zach LaVine will be out for "a little bit" with his sprained right ankle, coach Billy Donovan said Saturday.
Speaking pregame prior to the Bulls' 125-96 win against the Grizzlies on Saturday evening at the United Center, Donovan didn't put a specific timeline on when LaVine could return. The Bulls will leave Sunday for a three-game West Coast road trip, which starts with a game Monday at the Phoenix Suns. LaVine wasn't at the United Center on Saturday as he got treatment on his ankle, but he's expected to rejoin the team in Los Angeles, where the Bulls play the Lakers on Thursday.
"I don't know what's it's going to end up being," Donovan said when asked about the timeline. "It's going to be how he responds. He certainly has swelling in his ankle. That's pretty clear. Like I said, he's dealt with this before. I don't want to put a timeline on him, because I just don't know how long ankle sprains take to heal."
LaVine's right ankle injury comes after he missed 17 games across late November, December and early January with a right foot strain. He had played in seven games in his return before stepping awkwardly on a drive to the hoop Thursday in Chicago's win at Toronto.
LaVine exited the game after rolling his ankle. He later returned but then sat for the final seven-plus minutes after he wasn't moving well.
"For him, I feel bad," Donovan said. "Obviously, he had several weeks where he was dealing with his foot (injury), kind of got through that, got back in, played five or six games and now this has happened and he'll be out for a little bit. I know he's always disappointed about not being able to play, but he's dealt with sprained ankles before. It's not the first one he's had, so he knows exactly what he's got to do to get himself back to playing."
LaVine is averaging 19.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 25 games this season. He's shooting 45.2% overall, a sharp downtick from his high-efficiency performance of the past few years.
LaVine missed his 19th game of the season Saturday, and the Bulls improved to 11-8 without him. After a brutal first quarter by both teams, the Bulls played better and shot 51.6% overall and posted 32 assists. The Bulls had seven players land in double figures, led by reserve guard Ayo Dosunmu's 20 points. Star forward DeMar DeRozan added 18 points and eight assists.
"I know we didn't shoot it particularly well to start the game, but I thought we were really generating a lot of good looks," Donovan said.
"I liked the fact that we kept staying with it and were really unselfish and guys moved the ball, shared it. Everybody kind of got involved one way or another."
Forward Patrick Williams moved back into the starting lineup with LaVine out. Williams had 15 points.
"It's always the next-guy-up mentality," Williams said. "We kind of showed that tonight getting stops, getting downhill. I think we're really good when we do that, whether he plays or not."
Cody Westerlund is an editor for 670TheScore.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.
