Chicago Bulls: The truth behind Matas Buzelis’ career night

Matas Buzelis continues to soar for the Chicago Bulls

The Bulls stay firm at the 12th spot of the Eastern Conference standings. After their 10th straight loss, they are now four games behind the last play-in spot. Despite the loss, Buzelis came in and scored his career high of 32 points. He was also efficient, shooting 13-of-19 from the field and 6-of-11 from three. Buzelis topped it off with seven rebounds, two assists and one steal.

After the game, Donovan says he approves of Buzelis’ shot selection against the Hornets.

‘‘He got into the paint area and made some shots, got to the basket and made some drives,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘That’s what he’s got to do: play more off the dribble to score. I thought he was very efficient and decisive.

‘‘If you look at the really good offensive players and scorers in this league, they are hard to guard because you really are not sure what they are going to do — go by you, step back, shoot a three, shot-fake. It’s hard to handle those high-level offensive players. I’ve talked to Matas. He has to be shiftier and craftier with the basketball.’’

Buzelis acknowledged his talk with Donovan but said he didn’t want to get into details of what they talked about.

‘‘I’m going to be what the team needs me to be,’’ he said. ‘‘If that’s scoring, that’s what it’s going to be. I try to figure out during the game what the team needs, and [Tuesday] it was scoring.

The 21-year-old is still a bright spot for the Bulls. He can continue to focus on improving, albeit in a losing situation.