Ramp-up begins again for Ball, but time is running out
The vague Lonzo Ball injury updates continued Thursday.
Ball, out since Jan. 15 due to an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee, began ramping up his activity again after a 10-day break from running. But the point of a ramp-up is to begin slowly, so there was no news on when he might be ready to run at a full sprint or do some cutting, let alone play in a game.
"Obviously with the amount of time that he had off to kind of let things calm down, (he's) not going to go 0 to 60," Donovan said before Thursday's game against the Clippers. "There will be each day a little bit more to see how he does, but that process is going to start now. There's been nothing with what he's done, even a little bit of work today, where he's back in significant pain, because he just hasn't done enough."
The original timeline was a six- to eight-week return after the surgery, but Ball is at roughly nine weeks now and time is running out in the regular season. Donovan has said the injury included a bone bruise, which might explain why Ball felt some pain as he tried to run full speed during his rehab activities.
"I think he's always felt better from the surgery," Donovan said. "I think the things that were bothering him, just in day-to-day activity, I think a lot of that's gone. It's just when we get to a point where he's got to obviously go game speed and sprinting is where he's had some discomfort.
"We'll see if this has helped. The doctors will have some kind if plan they'll work through in terms of build him back up and we'll probably have more information each day that goes by."
Time running out:
After playing the Clippers, the Bulls have just five games remaining in the regular season. If they can play well enough to avoid the play-in tournament, the Bulls will get an extra five days or so before the first round of the playoffs begin.
So that's more time for Lonzo Ball to recover, but do the Bulls really want his return from knee surgery to happen in the playoffs? That's all to be determined, according to coach Billy Donovan.
"He's a driver behind a lot of this. He really wants to play," Donovan said. "But obviously he's also going to be smart in terms of how he's feeling and he's going to be realistic and the doctors will put their heads together. But certainly every day that passes by, you're moving closer and closer to the end of the season.
"I have not gotten anything from the doctors that said to me, 'Listen, there's not enough time. We can't get him back.' They're going to do everything they can to try and get him back, but a lot's going to depend on how he responds to this."
DeRozan closes on 2K:
Heading into Thursday's game, DeMar DeRozan needed 31 points to reach 2,000 for the season. He'd be the team's first 2,000-point scorer since Derrick Rose in his MVP season of 2010-11. DeRozan's 26 30-point games this season are the most for the franchise since Michael Jordan had 35 in 1997-98.
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