MIAMI — It had all the makings of a disaster after the somewhat surprising announcement during the shootaround that Zach LaVine would miss the regular-season opener against the Heat, who dominated the Bulls in all three meetings last season.
Good thing for the Bulls that DeMar DeRozan comes from the school of — as he put it — “the tougher the situation, the more you need to thrive.’’
DeRozan had 37 points, including 28 in the second half, to help the Bulls shock the Heat 116-108 at FTX Arena on Wednesday.
He was proud of how his team did it. Last season against the league’s best, the Bulls often were outhustled and allowed the opposition to muck up the game. This time, the tables were turned.
“We had a hell of a learning [experience] last year,’’ DeRozan said. “We had that blueprint, and that’s what we’ve been stressing. The IQ, the grit, getting dirty, the attention to detail late in games. We did a great job with that.’’
And while the locker room after the game was filled with good feelings, a bigger picture was being masked: LaVine’s injury news could alter the trajectory of the season in the front office’s eyes.
Fresh off a max contract and surgery to clean up his left-knee issues, LaVine was talking about how eager he was to return to his form at the start of last season.
So when he was ruled out of the opener as part of “managing’’ the left knee, there had to be a clear explanation.
LaVine didn’t really provide one.
“It’s the way it is,’’ LaVine said. “Just for going forward, I want to make sure I’m 100% at the end of the season, too. So I think the best thing is just managing it.’’
Asked if there was a setback or flare-up recently that somehow led to this “managing,’’ LaVine denied it.
“I never said I felt a flare-up,’’ LaVine said. “This is the determined course of action.
“I think we looked at the schedule and figured out what would be right for me. It’s a long season, and there’s going to be some sunny days and there’s going to be some rainy days. I think if you just go forward with that mentality, I’ll be all right.’’
To add to the confusion, a teammate said he thought LaVine came out of a practice Friday with some soreness in the knee.
LaVine, however, stuck to his guns with his “determined course of action’’ based on managing the knee.
Coach Billy Donovan finally cleared the air before the game, admitting that LaVine did experience discomfort in the knee after the team had three days of intense five-on-five practices.
“I don’t think this is a surprise to me at all,’’ Donovan said. “I think we knew going into this that it was going to be something to manage, and Zach was going to have to deal with it.’’
Donovan or LaVine couldn’t answer if managing the knee would last all season. Obviously, it’s not a great look for an organization that swore the knee was fine when LaVine signed his five-year, $215 million max deal in July.
“I wish I had a crystal ball to look into the future, I really do,’’ LaVine said.
“It would be great if I could figure that out. I’ll look up some lottery-ticket numbers if I knew that.’’
