LOS ANGELES — Two nights before Matas Buzelis crafted the game of his life, Coby White acknowledged he was concerned about the rookie.
The Chicago Bulls were in Sacramento last week, gutting out the fourth leg of a season-long, six-game trip, and Buzelis appeared to be down. Kevin Durant had schooled him 24 hours earlier in a loss at the Phoenix Suns, and Bulls coach Billy Donovan refused to allow Buzelis to be the weak link against the Kings.
One missed box out by Buzelis early in the second quarter jolted Donovan out of his seat and down the Bulls bench, where he summoned reserve guard Dalen Terry to replace Buzelis. If that didn’t deliver the message, Donovan’s next act certainly did. Buzelis was benched to start the second half, supplanted by second-year forward Julian Phillips. Buzelis’ only second-half playing time came in the final 3 1/2 minutes of the third quarter.
After the Bulls flipped a 19-point deficit into a 12-point win, White grew worried.
“I wanted to talk to him,” White said. “But the first thing he said was, ‘Bro, I’m fine. We won the game, and that’s all that matters.’ You don’t really hear that a lot from a guy his age — that mentality.
“He just let it go. He was having a good time on the plane, on the bus. He wasn’t down. … I know when I was his age and when I was in the NBA, I would have been down on myself just because that happened.
It’s the latest sign that Buzelis just might be built differently. Instead of sulking, Buzelis responded by staring across from LeBron James and posting a career-high 31 points in the Bulls’ 31-point road win against the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday. Buzelis made 12 of 18 shots, including 5 of 10 3-pointers in 30 minutes.
His teammates dosed him with a congratulatory water bath inside the visitors locker room of Crypto.com Arena.
He’s definitely taking on challenges,” White said. “This road trip has not been easy with everybody he’s had to guard, especially two of the greatest players of all time in guarding Kevin Durant and then having to guard LeBron James. But the one thing about Matas: I always say he’s super competitive, and he plays to win no matter what.
Buzelis learned that James would be his defensive assignment at the Bulls’ shootaround Saturday morning. This is the only player in NBA history to surpass 50,000 career points, regular season and playoffs combined. But not many players would react the way the 20-year-old did when he heard who he’d be defending.
“I just got excited,” Buzelis said. “I’m a competitive guy, so I’m just going to try to make it tough on him. Of course, (James is) one of the best players ever — or the best player ever. I just knew I’ve got to come in and compete.”
James, who is twice Buzelis’ age, was playing in his first contest after missing six straight because of a strained left groin. He scored 17 points on 7-for-16 shooting and added six rebounds, four assists, three steals and five turnovers in 31 minutes.
“Honestly, he didn’t really shoot much against me,” Buzelis said. “I think he shot, like, one time against me in the midrange.
With his Lakers teammate Luka Dončić scoring 29 of his 34 points in the first half, James didn’t need to force his offense early. Still, the trust Donovan showed in Buzelis to start the game guarding James spoke volumes. Donovan could have turned to Phillips or fifth-year forward Patrick Williams as the starter for one night after what transpired in Phoenix and Sacramento.
But the coach stuck with Buzelis for a reason.
“For his development, he’s got to do that,” Donovan said. “There’s going to be times where you’re coming into the second half and you want to search the right matchups, but starting a game, he needs to line up and guard his position a little bit, and that was the matchup (against the Lakers). I don’t know if it helps him if we’re constantly trying to hide him on different matchups.
That’s a way that I think Matas can learn: by playing against a guy like that and understanding what that’s like. I’m not going to hide him. Now, if it’s a point where it’s hurting our team, then I’ve got to make a change. But I’m not going to go in and pass judgment on it before it even happens.
When asked about needing to take on tougher defensive assignments, Buzelis essentially said to bring them on.
“I told Billy in the beginning of the season I want to be pushed to the limits,” Buzelis said. “I told him I want to be the best player ever. That’s just how I think. And he told me, ‘I’ll push you to be the best ever.’ He’s done a great job with holding me accountable, and I thank him for that in all those moments. Whenever he takes me out for a mistake, I get better when I come back in the game.”
Buzelis might be learning the game’s intricacies, but he’s already adept at making highlight plays. His most dazzling play on his career night came against Dončić: a shot fake into a three-dribble series in which he put the ball between his legs and around his back before driving left along the baseline, past Dončić for a dunk.
