East Notes: Bulls, Billy Donovan, Hawks, John Collins, Celtics

Bulls

Not surprisingly, coach Billy Donovan would like to see more consistency from the Bulls, who sit at a disappointing 9-12 through Wednesday.

“At times we can be two different teams,” Donovan said, via Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “We can be like the team in Utah [in Monday’s win] that’s really helping each other and we’re kind of on a string and moving. And there’s other times we’re not like that. When you play against a really good team like Phoenix, that’s won at a high level, that’s got obviously a lot of consistency in their team, whether they miss or make shots, whatever is going on, they’re going to play the way they play.

“We need to be able to play the way we need to in order to be successful. There’s times we do it and other times we don’t. We’ve got to be better at that.’’

• Donovan indicated point guard Lonzo Ball is still a ways away from returning fro a knee injury. We have more on that right here.

Hawks

• Power forward John Collins was forced to exit Wednesday’s win over the Magic with a left ankle injury. Collins suffered the injury after a dunk. Already sidelined were guard/forward Bogdan Bogdanovic (knee), forward Jalen Johnson (ankle) and shooting guard Justin Holiday (COVID-19).
• Collins, of course, has been at the center of multiple trade rumors, with the Jazz reportedly being among those interested. You can read more about that right here. The Clippers may also have an interest.
• The Hawks (12-10) currently sit in sixth in the East. “It’s hard to win this league,” guard Trae Young told reporters after the win over the Magic. “So just getting a win was important to close out this road trip.”

Celtics

• Guard/forward Jayson Tatum is a legitimate candidate for NBA MVP at the quarter point of the season, wrote Casey Taitel of SLAM.
• Tatum has even received some “MVP” chants from the home crowd. “I love this place, I love being here, and hearing that during the game gives you chills,” he said, via Taitel.
• In case you missed it, center/forward Al Horford has agreed to a two-year contract extension. We have that full story right here.