Bulls List Four Key Players on Injury Report for Heat Back-To-Back

The Chicago Bulls again faced another injury crisis after they hosted the Miami Heat in a 116-113 loss on Thursday.

Josh Giddey, Coby White and Jalen Smith were upgraded to "questionable" for Saturday's Heat game in Miami, per the injury report on Friday. Nikola Vucevic was also listed as "doubtful" for rest. Three of them, except for Giddey, played on Thursday.

Despite expectations that Josh Giddey and Coby White would finally start together in the rescheduled Heat matchup in a back-to-back, head coach Billy Donovan announced pregame that Giddey would be sidelined. He said the Australian point guard experienced tightness that morning during his recovery from a left hamstring strain, forcing the Bulls to exercise caution.

"I don't know if his return has been set back or anything like that," Donovan said. "It's just a matter of how long it will take for him to get to where he can just play without it."

Giddey will travel with the team to South Florida for back-to-back games Friday and Saturday, leaving the door open for a potential return during the weekend stretch.

The situation worsened during Thursday's game. Jalen Smith, listed as probable beforehand and cleared to play, delivered 11 productive first-half points in 15 minutes before the Bulls announced he wouldn't return after halftime due to right calf tightness. Whether Smith would return on Saturday remains unknown, but the timing couldn't be worse.

This marks another soft-tissue injury for a Bulls roster that's been plagued by muscle and tendon issues since training camp. While Coby White has gradually found his scoring rhythm after returning in November from his own right calf injury, his surge can't mask the mounting absences of Giddey, Tre Jones (left hamstring) and now Smith.

With Smith and Zach Collins unavailable, Chicago's frontcourt depth is alarmingly thin. Only Nikola Vucevic, who was doubtful for Saturday, and two-way player Lachlan Olbrich remain healthy at the position. Donovan may need to lean heavily on his two-way roster flexibility to navigate this crisis.

Yuki Kawamura became available for the first time since being re-signed as the last two-way player on Thursday after completing his lengthy recovery from a blood clot issue, potentially providing backcourt reinforcement to spell Jones. With White gradually emerging from his own minute restriction — but still requiring careful management — Kawamura represents a viable option for distributing the backcourt workload.

The Bulls have suited up at full strength (excluding Noa Essengue's season-ending injury) fewer than 5 times this season. As they head into a brutal stretch facing Miami twice in a weekend, Chicago must maximize whatever healthy bodies remain available.

If Giddey or others can suit up for at least one game this weekend, it would provide crucial relief for an exhausted rotation. Otherwise, the Bulls face one of their toughest schedules shorthandedly.