Bulls coach Billy Donovan pointed to the Warriors’ established “identity” as the reason Golden State has continued to withstand major injuries, according to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times.
Donovan added that the identity his own team is building should be concerning, especially after Chicago suffered its seventh straight loss on Sunday – a 32-point defeat to a Warriors squad missing both Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.
Even without their stars, Golden State put up 38 first-quarter points, hit 8-of-13 from deep, and outrebounded the Bulls 11-6, exposing Chicago’s issues early.
Donovan emphasized that injuries can’t excuse everything, saying, ‘‘I do think for some of the guys that have been thrust into situations where their minutes have changed, responsibilities have changed, we’ve got to be able to stay true and hold true to that (identity). That’s the thing I try to look at where, yes, you’ve got all these injuries, but what about the things we can control about how we’re supposed to play and how we need to be able to play? Some of the things that have hurt have been the ballhandling issue and the turnovers. We’ve had a lot of responsibilities on particular guys just because that’s one thing that’s kind of gone out with the injuries is the ballhandling, but we’ve got to be able to do a better job with that.’’
After opening the season with five straight wins, Chicago has collapsed to 9-14 and sits 11th in the Eastern Conference.
The early benefits of Donovan’s faster style of play have faded, and the team currently lacks a clear path toward a quick recovery.
Still, guard Coby White stressed that the group is staying unified, saying, ‘‘Whatever we do, we’ve got to do it together. That’s the most important thing. I’ve been here a long time, seen a lot of different situations, been in different scenarios, and the most important thing is we can’t start pointing fingers or anything like that. I’m not saying by any means we’ve done that, but we’re all human. So the most important thing right now is we’ve got to stick together. It’s still a very long season.’’
Bulls Notes: Losing Streak, Okoro, Essengue, Vucevic https://t.co/YSDHmV9RzZ pic.twitter.com/161jZu5yDu
— Hoops Rumors (@HoopsRumors) December 8, 2025
