The Chicago Bulls might be extremely shorthanded when they face the Miami Heat on Saturday.
Chicago reportedly now has five players in the league’s health and safety protocols. The latest to join the list is former Heat player Derrick Jones Jr. Among the players already on the list is DeMar DeRozan, who is leading his team in scoring with 26.4 points per game this season.
Bulls are facing an outbreak on team with Jones joining teammates DeMar DeRozan, Coby White, Matt Thomas and Javonte Green in protocols. https://t.co/QxIXu5ApTv
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 9, 2021
The Bulls also have some injury woes. Second-year player Patrick Williams, who underwent surgery to repair torn ligaments in his left wrist in October, will miss Saturday’s game while Alex Caruso could miss out as well.
Bulls PR confirms that Derrick Jones Jr. has landed in league’s health and safety protocols, which @wojespn had 1st.
Bulls have 5 players in protocols and Patrick Williams definitely out and Alex Caruso maybe out. Face Heat Saturday.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 9, 2021
The Heat will be missing a couple of players themselves, including big man Bam Adebayo. The one-time All-Star is expected to miss four to six weeks after undergoing surgery early this week.
Jimmy Butler’s status for the game is still unclear as he is listed as day-to-day.
While the placement of Jones in the league’s health and safety protocols is unfortunate news for the Bulls, it could provide Miami a better chance of winning the Saturday clash between the two Eastern Conference contenders.
Chicago currently has a record of 17-9, which ranks second in the conference. The Heat are not too far back in the standings. They are 15-11 and tied for the No. 4 seed in the conference.
Miami is coming off an outstanding victory, as it beat the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks 113-104 on Wednesday. Without Adebayo and Butler, several players stepped up, including Kyle Lowry, P.J. Tucker and Caleb Martin, who had a career night.
