Bulls end losing skid; still trying to embrace 'competitive integrity'

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Bulls are in a weird place these days.

Defense still seems to be optional far too often, and a seven-victory team can make them continue to look underwhelming. Then they had center Nikola Vucevic’s benching to explain after a 129-126 victory Friday against the Hornets.

‘‘You obviously want to be out there as a competitor,’’ Vucevic said of not playing the last 17 minutes. ‘‘Zach [Collins] and ‘Sticks’ [Jalen Smith] were playing great. They got us back into the game, gave us a big boost. [Head coach] Billy [Donovan] made the call to stay with them, and obviously it was the right call. We won the game, and I’m just glad we won the game. It was a tough stretch for us.’’

That was an understatement, considering the Bulls (10-14) were stuck in a seven-game losing streak and appeared to be on the way to No. 8 midway through the third quarter.

But with the Bulls down by 13 with 4:58 left in the third, Donovan pulled Vucevic and went with Collins and Smith — sometimes together, sometimes staggered.

It turned out to be a good call because the Bulls caught the Hornets early in the fourth and outscored them 40-34 in the quarter.

Smith and Collins combined for eight rebounds, including four offensive boards, down the stretch.

‘‘I think the thing for us, the consistency part, we had nine turnovers and nine assists in the first half,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘[Then in] the second half we got to the backboard. Those are the things we’re going to have to do. I thought ‘Sticks’ and Zach were playing pretty well together.’’

That didn’t mean there wasn’t a hold-your-breath moment. With the Bulls leading by three with 10 seconds left, Collins was called for a foul on a three-point shot by rookie Kon Knueppel. Donovan challenged the call because he didn’t think Collins made contact until well after the shot was out of Knueppel’s hands. The officials agreed and overturned the foul.

Crisis averted.

But what about Vucevic? Is there a situation brewing in which he might lose his starting job? Highly unlikely.

‘‘I wouldn’t go off just one game and make a rash [decision],’’ Donovan said. ‘‘And the thing I love about Vooch is, even on the bench, he’s encouraging those guys, talking to those guys. He’s incredibly positive. I’m sure Vooch wanted to be out there every minute of the game, but I really appreciated the way he handled himself on the bench in terms of clapping and trying to lift the guys up.’’

In the bigger picture, however, this goes to the idea of the Bulls’ insistence on ‘‘competitive integrity.’’ This has been a disappointing season so far, and while the coaching staff and front office are on the same page in terms of what ‘‘competitive integrity’’ means now, might that change soon?

Donovan knows that’s on the table.

‘‘The message is clear every day in terms of what we’re trying to do,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘I think one of the things that gets hard is if you sit there and say: ‘Hey, guys, don’t worry about the winning. All we’re worried about is trying to get this guy minutes, this guy minutes, and we’re going to try and experiment with this and this.’ When guys come to work every day and the focus isn’t on the winning part of it, it’s, ‘OK, if I’m not included in this plan, what am I doing here?’

‘‘That’s not to say that as time goes on, [the front office and ownership] aren’t looking at a bigger picture and taking a 30,000-foot view down on this thing and saying: ‘This is what we’ve got to do now. We’ve seen enough over a period of time.’ ’’

At least for one night, anyway, that 30,000-foot view could be tabled.