CHICAGO (670 The Score) – The chants came with Bulls guard Coby White at the free-throw line with 4:44 remaining Saturday evening, shortly after he had used a hesitation dribble to get to the basket for a bucket and a foul.
"Coby, Coby, Coby," the United Center crowd roared.
In the Bulls' trying season, there hadn't been much reason for the home crowd to lavish such praise upon anyone, but White's play moved them to share the chorus. With star guard Zach LaVine missing his second straight game due to right foot soreness, White had a season-high 31 points, nine rebounds and six assists to lead the Bulls to a 124-118 win against the Pelicans.
"The man was amazing," said forward DeMar DeRozan, who added 24 points and 10 assists. "He was ultra-aggressive, ultra-confident, decisive. He was big. Cobe was Cobe tonight. Without him tonight, I don't think we feed off his energy. We don't get this win without him. He was special tonight."
White shot 10-of-17 overall and was 8-of-13 on 3-pointers, which matched his career-high for makes from beyond the arc.
White was at his best in the fourth quarter, when he had 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers that gave Chicago a six-point lead after the game was tied at 98-98 in the middle of the final period. He was also at the center of a game-sealing bucket, as he tossed a lob to forward Patrick Williams (14 points) for a dunk that gave the Bulls a 122-116 lead with 20.1 seconds remaining.
"I just go into every game as prepared as I can be and treat every game the same way and just make winning the main priority," White said of his mindset. "Whatever the game needs from me to help the team win, that's kind of how I look at it."
The subplot of the Bulls' win Saturday was their playing style as LaVine sat out. For the second straight game, they recorded a season-high 32 assists and played with the pace and ball movement that coach Billy Donovan has desired. And for the second straight game, the Bulls won after their abysmal 5-14 start.
So why is the offense clicking all of a sudden?
"Sometimes you just got to do it until it gets right," DeRozan said. "You know what I mean? I think just where it's at, now it's just about being consistent with it. Like I said, we had moments (previously), we had periods of quarters, halves when we did it. Now we've been putting together a full game with it. And that's how we've got to play if we want to keep pulling out wins."
LaVine and his representation have made it known to Bulls management that he's open to being traded, a development that has made it feel like the big move is inevitable. How long he'll be out with his foot soreness remains unclear, as the team announced Friday he'll be out at least a week.
If LaVine does get healthy enough to return the Bulls while he's still on their roster, he'll rejoin a group that has increased confidence in how it's operating on the offensive end. Donovan praised the Bulls' "quick decisions" on the offensive end Saturday, a sentiment DeRozan echoed as he called the past two games "a blueprint" for the team to follow.
"Just being unselfish, moving the ball, pushing the pace, not worrying too much about the mistakes that we make defensively that slow us down," DeRozan said. "We just kept playing, understanding reads, everybody making great reads, quick reads. Everybody is shooting the ball with confidence, making plays with confidence."
Cody Westerlund is an editor for 670TheScore.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.
