ORLANDO, Fla. — Nikola Vucevic prowled quietly behind the target. That’s not easy for a 6-10, 260-pounder, but with water bottle in hand, he had reached his prey.
He proceeded to squeeze the icy liquid on the back and head of Coby White as he was waiting to do a postgame interview. White tried to duck out of the way to no avail.
Someone had to cool off White on Thursday, and it sure wasn’t going to be any member of the Magic.
Behind White’s season-high 44 points, the Bulls came back from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter, and they did it without big men Jalen Smith and Zach Collins, who had fouled out. White had 17 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Bulls to a 125-123 victory.
“I just wanted to take whatever was given to me,” White said. “They didn’t want me to get off any threes, so they were kind of pressing up on me. The coaching staff did a hell of a job of putting all of us in position where we could succeed. I give credit to my teammates for trusting in me.”
What’s not to trust?
White had it going on from outside — he was 7-for-15 from three-point range — but also kept the Magic on their heels by attacking the rim.
There also were two impressive non-scoring plays in the fourth. White saved a ball that was going into the stands with a nice jump pass, and, on the last possession with the Magic trying to tie the game, White disrupted their timing with a deflection on the perimeter.
Orlando’s Paolo Banchero did have a chance to play hero with a game-winning three, but it missed with 2.1 seconds left. Former Bull Wendell Carter Jr. grabbed the rebound and slammed it home, but the horn had sounded.
“[White] was in the game,” coach Billy Donovan said. “Besides the scoring part of it, the leadership, the voice was great. Even when we would get a little frustrated because it was a very physical game, [White] just kept messaging the guys, ‘Just focus on what we can control.’ Even just coming down the stretch, I thought he was a great calming force for our guys and just stayed in it.”
The Bulls (25-38) desperately needed that calm.
Right from the opening tip, it was pretty clear that it was going to be a bumps-and-bruises night. Unfortunately for the Bulls, they weren’t up to the task in the physicality department early.
That changed in the second half in a big way, especially when Collins fouled out with 9:44 left, then Smith was ejected after picking up his sixth foul at the 8:11 mark.
Donovan turned to the slender frames of Julian Phillips and rookie Matas Buzelis to grow up quickly in what resembled a UFC octagon rather than the paint at times.
“They’ve got a lot of big dudes, so we just had to turn up the physicality,” Buzelis said. “Me and Julian did a good job of just playing hard. It was definitely one of the most physical games I’ve played in, for sure.”
That’s why Donovan was throwing everything at the Magic defensively, including a 2-3 zone, a box-and-one, then straight-up man.
All of it was on display after White scored to put the Bulls up by two with 1:28 left. Neither team would score again in this battle of wills.
“They always play physical, so it’s always a war when you play against them,” White said. “They’ve got physical guys over there; they try to impose their will. Two teams that haven’t been playing as well as they’d like, so both teams needed a win. That’s how both teams played.”
