DENVER — Nuggets coach Michael Malone didn’t need to hear about Coby White’s latest recognition from the NBA to know how good the Bulls guard has been playing.
“[Coach] Billy [Donovan] has given him the green light to attack, to shoot the three,” Malone said Monday. “The last couple of years, Chicago has always been a team that didn’t shoot a lot of threes, and I think [this year] they’ve shot a lot more, and I think Coby is a big part of that. In the open court, he has become almost unguardable with a relentless attack mindset. You back off him, he’s going to shoot it. You press up on him, he has the handle, size and physicality to break you down, get to the rim and finish.”
That’s high praise from a championship-winning coach, and the NBA seemed to agree, announcing earlier in the day that White had been selected as Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the second consecutive week. The last Bull to do it was Michael Jordan.
“He’s been great, and the big thing I’ve seen growth in is he’s pushed himself to be really consistent,” Donovan said. “That’s the thing that was encouraging to me, to be honored last week for the award and then to come back and be honored again.”
White helped lead the Bulls to a 3-1 record last week while ranking fourth in the NBA in scoring (30.3 points per game). He also extended his career-best streak of 20-plus-point games to 12. Against the Nuggets on Monday night, he made it 13, becoming one of eight Bulls in history to do that.
That’s the consistency Donovan has been harping on White about for years.
“I think the hardest thing in the NBA with 82 games is, can you move to the next thing, move to the next thing? Because they keep coming,” Donovan said. “You’ve got to be able to handle success, and you’ve got to be able to handle failure, and I think he’s really worked hard on figuring out ways he can he stay present in the moment. ‘What’s in front of me now?’ ”
Ball’s really rolling now
Donovan got a positive report from Chicago on Monday afternoon: Guard Lonzo Ball (right wrist) took some big strides as he gets closer to a return.
“[Monday] was really the first day where there was a pretty significant workout, and when I say ‘workout,’ he’s been doing the running,” Donovan said. “I’m talking about ball-handling, shooting, that kind of stuff. I wouldn’t say he’s totally pain-free, but he’s in a much better place than he was a few days ago.”
Ball missed his 12th consecutive game with the injury, which also cost him 15 games earlier in the season.
“This was really the first time where he was really shooting the basketball, dribbling the basketball, and we’ll see how he responds,” Donovan said. “The medical guys that were with him back in Chicago felt like it was a really good day for him. So there’s some optimism when we get home.”
Imposing figures
The season-high 146 points the Bulls scored in their victory over the Lakers on Saturday was the sixth-highest total in regulation in franchise history and their highest total in regulation since they scored 151 against the Bucks in 2008.