Bulls hold off Raptors for second straight victory

The first basket from Coby White didn’t come until the 8:42 mark of the first quarter.

It was a three-pointer courtesy of a Patrick Williams assist.

White didn’t even score in the second quarter, taking only one shot against the Raptors on Monday.

Did White have an off night in the Bulls’ 122-121 road victory?

Maybe or maybe White just has a better understanding of the long game — an understanding of when to let the game come to him and when to grab it.

By the time the third quarter ended, it was grabbed.

Thanks to White, who was a team-high plus-11 in the third quarter, the Bulls scored 42 points to take control. White had seven points, two assists and a steal in the quarter.

The Bulls were missing Zach LaVine (back) and Dalen Terry (knee), and Josh Giddey had to leave the game after rolling his right ankle.

The White of old might’ve viewed those absences as a chance to have a one-man three-point contest.

But this version of White has matured a lot during his development.

Playing heavy starting minutes for the first time last season, White admittedly hit a wall. This coming from a player who always believed that more work fixes everything. The problem was he was physically worn down by the second half of the season. The numbers reflected that.

Entering the All-Star break, White was averaging just under 20 points and shooting 39.7% from three-point range and 46.3% from the field. After the break, his scoring went down a bit to 18 points per game, but his efficiency was the issue. White’s shooting dropped to 32.3% from three, and his overall field-goal shooting was down to 41.3%.

That was the focus in the offseason, making sure to avoid that wall or just having the ability to run through it.

“I think the biggest thing that [White] is at least aware of is the length of the season,” coach Billy Donovan said. “He’s way more in tune with his body where he has to change his routine a little bit. Coby has always been kind of a worker; he just works. So if there’s something that’s not going well, he’ll just keep working at it, working at it and working at it, but I think there’s a balance for him in terms of his routine.

“When players get to that place where they’ve gone from this development stage to where they have kind of established themselves, and then they start to realize, ‘Man, this is a heck of a load to have to carry, not only every night but for 82 games.’ You start to evaluate and look at, ‘What are the things I need to do differently to take care of my body, make sure I’m somewhat fresh?’ I think he does have a better understanding of that.”

That’s why White isn’t overly concerned with stats and numbers through the first 27 games. He’s more concerned with consistency and a strong finish — even on a night in which his team had a bit of a shaky ending.

A 16-point lead in the fourth quarter was whittled to a point with 2:28 left. But White put the Bulls back up by three with a finger roll, and Nikola Vucevic just about iced the game with a baby hook off an assist from White with 14 seconds left.

White had 19 points and five assists. Vucevic scored a team-high 24 points.