Chicago Sports

From red hot to icy cool, Porchlight Music Theatre’s thrilling “Blues in the Night” travels the complete spectrum of its titular genre. Long story short: If you are a human who experiences emotions, you will revel in director-choreographer Kenny Ingram’s production.

On the one hand, the revue of some two dozen blues numbers offers “low-down stanky, funky” scorchers like “Take Me for a Buggy Ride,” in which a growling, hip-swerving Felicia P. Fields makes it unabashedly clear that she’s not singing about a horse-drawn vehicle. On the other hand, “Blues in the Night” goes slinky and chill with “Lush Life/I’m Just a Lucky So and So,” delivered by Donica Lynn and Evan Tyrone Martin, smooth and glossy as water over glass.

Both ends of the blues’ spectrum are equally mesmerizing onstage, with Ingram’s five-person cast and a four-piece onstage band pulsing through numbers popularized by Bessie Smith, Billy Strayhorn and Alberta Hunter, among others. It’s music powerful enough to completely banish whatever blues are lurking in real life outside the theater, at least for the roughly two-hour duration of Ingram’s robust staging.

The storytelling in the Tony-nominated show conceived by Sheldon Epps begins before the first note is sung. It’s 1938, and we’re in a once-grand hotel on the South Side of Chicago, a place of beauty and memories. There are three guests: The Lady from the Road (Fields) is poring over an ancient scrapbook, remembering her days on vaudeville’s Chitlin Circuit. The Woman of the World (Lynn) has loved and lost, both greatly. And The Girl with a Date (Clare Kennedy) is fresh-off-the-bus, starry-eyed and looking for love.

The trio is joined by The Man in the Saloon (Martin) and The Dancing Man (Terrell Armstrong), the former with a voice as alluring as a Siren, the latter flitting among the women with a sinewy grace that’s irresistible. Throughout, Music Director David Fiorello and the ensemble tackle the inherent tension in the blues: It’s the music of saints and sinners, rooted in juke joints and gospel choirs, at once celestial and gritty.

The ensemble is backed by a four-piece band conducted by keyboardist Maulty Jewell IV. Each musician (Rafe Bradford on bass, Ricardo Jiminez on trumpet and Darius Hampton on reeds) gets a solo jam, but they also operate as a single organism, each piece blending seamlessly with the others.

One of the numbers that highlights both ends of the blues is “Take It Back Chaser,” which has Fields, Lynn and Kennedy rip-roaring through a breakup anthem for the ages, their voices blazing with authority as they bring down the house and send trifling menfolk packing. The women also turn “It Makes My Love Come Down” into a bona fide scorcher.

Fields is more than a decade out from her 2006 Tony nomination for playing Miss Sophia in “The Color Purple,” but her voice is as powerful as ever. If anything, she’s only gotten better in the intervening years, as numbers including the sensual “New Orleans Hop Scop Blues” and the deeply melancholic “Wasted Life Blues” make undeniably clear. Lynn’s rich, warm alto is in glorious form. With “Rough and Ready Man,” she goes full-throttle sex-positive with a vigorous celebration of the old axiom that dancing is a vertical expression of a horizontal desire. The bone-deep sorrow she instills within “Four Walls Interlude” will have you reaching for a hanky.

The Woman of the World (Donica Lynn) and The Dancing Man (Terrell Armstrong) share a number.Anthony Robert La Penna

Kennedy’s Girl with a Date starts out with perky optimism. But she hardens after heartbreak — much of it at the hands of Armstrong’s seductive Dancing Man — and finds strength in the wisdom of Woman and Lady. In “Reckless Blues,” Kennedy shows the audience The Girl with a Date’s rich, evocative emotional backstory. Martin’s velvety croon and smooth charisma make The Man in the Saloon fascinating, even when (especially when) he’s leaving sorrow in his wake. “Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues” is slick and seductive; “Willow Weep for Me” (with Kennedy’s Girl) shows the shattered heart that follows.

Angela Weber Miller’s set design showcases the fading glory of a once-glittering hotel, while Rueben D. Echoles’ costumes evoke the late 1930s setting. One last thing: Lynn and Fields are storied figures in the land of musical theater, and for good reason. Having both in the same cast? To revert to a sports analogy, it’s kind of like having two Simone Bileses on the same gymnastics team. It’s historic, and not something that should be missed.

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INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The biggest sack of Aaron Donald’s career wasn’t a sack at all.

The Bengals lined up at the Rams’ 49-yard line with 1:25 left trailing by three with 43 seconds to play Sunday. They had a receiver split to either side, a tight end in the left slot and a running back to the left of quarterback Joe Burrow. The Bengals just failed to run for a first down on third-and-1 — and took a timeout to draw up a pass play.

The Rams defensive tackle, the best defensive player on the planet, lined up across from Bengals left tackle Jonah Williams. The ball was snapped, football history on the line. Within 2.2 seconds — one thousand one, one thousand two … — Donald had both arms around Burrow, spinning him counterclockwise. After one full rotation, Burrow — looking for all the world like a rodeo cowboy — tried to fling the ball forward. It landed harmlessly in the flat, and chaos erupted. The Rams, in their home stadium, had won the Super Bowl 23-20.

Donald had clinched it — the way he should. He finished the night with two sacks for 10 yards, two tackles for loss and three quarterback hurries.

Other teams have tried to get their own version of him, but Donald has been a unique figure on the NFL landscape since the Rams drafted him 13th overall in 2014. He’s what the Bears thought they were getting when they traded for Khalil Mack in 2018.

“For the offense to find a way and for Aaron to be able to finish it off, it’s poetic, man,” Rams coach Sean McVay said.

Long before they got Mack, the Bears thought they were getting Donald. Receiver Odell Beckham — who starred in the first half Sunday before hurting his knee — was taken 12th overall by the Giants in 2014.

The Rams, picking 13th, already had maybe the best defensive line unit in the game. They had former No. 1 overall pick Chris Long, future Bears edge rusher Robert Quinn — who was coming off a 19-sack season — and Michael Brockers.

The Rams, though, thought they could make the line even better. When they drafted Donald out of Pittsburgh, the Bears, who were picking next, were crushed. General manager Phil Emery took cornerback Kyle Fuller with the 14th pick.

Unable to draft their own Donald, the Bears set about trading for one. Four years later, a different Bears GM, Ryan Pace, traded two first-round picks and a third-rounder as part of a package to pry Mack from the Raiders.

Mack had stayed away from the only franchise he’d ever known because he wanted a new contract. While he waited, the Rams signed Donald to a six-year, $135 million deal that included a $50 million guaranteed at signing. In that moment, Mack would joke later, he let out a curse word that would have embarrassed his parents.

One day later, he was traded to the Bears and had his own deal, specifically designed to top Donald. Mack got a six-year, $141 million deal with $60 million guaranteed at signing it.

The day he was introduced, Mack acknowledged Donald’s role in his contract — and that he compared himself to the Rams star.

“But even then, that’s one part of it,” Mack said then. “That’s the one part of it. The other side is, you want to — I want to be great. I want to be great. I want to be known as one of the best to play the game. And that’s what it’s all about for me, regardless of how you look at it.

Four seasons later, Donald has been to two Super Bowls, winning one. Mack has been to two playoff games, losing two.

During the lead up to Sunday’s game, NBC Sports analyst Rodney Harrison said Donald told him he could retire in the offseason were the Rams to win. If he does, he’ll be five years away from a gold jacket. The Bears — and the rest of the NFL — would still be green with envy.

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The last time the Blackhawks were in Winnipeg, their performance was so pathetic and lifeless that it convinced a two-week-old general manager to fire their coach.

When the Hawks’ plane touched down again in Manitoba on Sunday afternoon, their big-picture outlook as a franchise was still far from stable. They still didn’t have a permanent GM — although that will change soon — and they still hadn’t named their next permanent coach. The sexual assault scandal and fallout still hung over everything; the team still sat near the bottom of the standings.

But at least it no longer feels like the organization is actively burning the ground, which is very much how it felt back on Nov. 5.

The otherwise irrelevant milestone of another road matchup against the Jets provides an opportunity to appreciate how significantly, albeit gradually, at least the Hawks’ day-to-day situation has stabilized.

In that first Jets meeting, the Hawks trailed 2-0 after the first three minutes and 4-0 at the second intermission en route to a 5-1 loss. They were dominated 33-18 in shots on goal, 35-19 in scoring chances and 13-5 in high-danger scoring chances. Worst of all, they demonstrated no signs of passion or resilience even once things started careening off the cliff.

Ugly, lopsided games like that are bound to happen a few times to any team in any 82-game season, and indeed, the Hawks’ 5-1 loss Saturday against the Blues looked remarkably similar in many ways.

The surrounding context in early November, though, set that game apart. The Hawks fell to 1-9-2 with the loss. They’d been outscored 42-15 and outshot 312-248 at even strength. It had been, at that point, almost a full month of incompetence and non-competitiveness. The direness of the circumstances was hard to comprehend.

“We recognize things but we haven’t been correcting them, and that’s our issue right now,” Connor Murphy said that night. “[I’m] sitting here right now talking about things, but to go out there and do it every shift is a different thing. And that’s what it’s going to take from each of us. That’s the challenge ahead of us.”

Then-coach Jeremy Colliton, who’d been fuming in postgame interviews after several previous losses, seemed resigned to the failure that night, arguing their effort was so far below the necessary level that they needed to just “leave this game.”

“We didn’t give ourselves a chance,” Colliton said. “We need to regroup. We’ve got a day off tomorrow. We need to come with energy and play better. We know we can play well.”

Colliton didn’t get to enjoy that day off; instead, he was fired. Interim GM Kyle Davidson, the following day, said it was the “way” the Hawks had been losing — not the losses themselves — that necessitated the move. A team source later said Davidson was already leaning towards firing Colliton but the Winnipeg game convinced him it was unequivocally the right decision.

Three months later, the Hawks are 17-24-7 — bad, but neither historically nor unbelievably bad.

The coaching change has worked out fairly well, with interim coach Derek King having restored unity and self-belief inside the locker room and molded the on-ice performance into something respectable, if boring. The GM search has been handled fairly well so far, too, with a number of qualified candidates being considered.

From a macro standpoint, this 2021-22 season will likely still be remembered as rock bottom, and the franchise has so far only taken the first first steps in their lengthy climb out of the valley.

From a micro standpoint, however, things have steadied significantly since November. Whether the Hawks win or lose Monday won’t really matter, and that’s not the worst situation to be in. They certainly couldn’t say that in November.

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How bad was mighty Illinois on Sunday in the second half of a 73-66 win against Northwestern?

So bad, the Illini took a walk in the park and — allowing the Wildcats to go on an inexplicable 19-2 tear — turned it into a run for their lives. So bad, any offensive possession that didn’t end in a turnover was cause for a minor celebration. So bad, coach Brad Underwood laughed in front of the bench when he couldn’t find any more tears of frustration to cry.

So bad, one really has to wonder if the first-place Illini, who still lead the Big Ten by half a game at 11-3, are serious about grabbing their first regular-season league title since 2005.

Then again, Purdue (11-4) was arguably even worse Sunday in a one-point win against lowly Maryland. Wisconsin (10-4) stumbled and bumbled in a loss to Rutgers — which had never won in Madison — a day earlier. The Illini, Boilermakers and Badgers all delivered these cringe-worthy performances on their home floors.

Who wants to win this thing?

Look at this as “sweeps week” for the Illini. They already managed not to lose to Northwestern. Next come visits to underrated Rutgers — which has already won at home against Purdue, Michigan, Iowa, Michigan State and Iowa State — and MSU. If the Illini turn all that into a 3-0 week, they’ll be viewed far and wide as one of the best teams in the country.

But will they? Are they really good enough? Is any team in the Big Ten good enough?

Here’s what’s happening:

MON 14

Spurs at Bulls (7 p.m., NBCSCH)

Not to tell Billy Donovan how to do his job, but if we were running the show? We’d consider concocting a game plan that doesn’t involve letting the Spurs score 130-plus points like they did against the Bulls last month.

Blackhawks at Jets (8 p.m., NBCSCH)

In all fairness, Winnipeg’s 5-1 romp in the teams’ last meeting came in early November, when the Hawks were just plain terrible. As opposed to now, when they’re merely awful.

TUE 15

Butler at DePaul (8 p.m., FS1)

Say this for Tony Stubblefield: His team is showing more life than Dave Leitao’s squads often did at this point in the season. OK, so it’s not the highest bar.

WED 16

Illinois at Rutgers (6 p.m., BTN)

Back-to-back-to-back wins for the Scarlet Knights against Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin? Now that’s impressive. Not as impressive as it would be if it were football season, but still — impressive.

Kings at Bulls (7 p.m., NBCSCH)

Has it been only a week since Domantas Sabonis was traded to Sacramento? It must feel like a decade.

Purdue at Northwestern (8 p.m., BTN)

Look, if Rutgers, Indiana and Michigan could all beat the Boilermakers, why can’t Northwestern? Yes, smarty pants, it was a serious question.

A U.S.-Canada women’s rematch would fit the bill beautifully.Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images

Olympic hockey: women’s gold medal game (10:05 p.m., Ch. 5)

Barring a giant semifinal upset, it’s furious rivals Team USA and Canada for all the marbles and a puckload of pride.

THU 17

Blue Jackets at Blackhawks (7:30 p.m., NBCSCH)

Hawks defenseman Calvin de Haan has scored one goal since Jan. 22, 2021, but it came against — that’s right — Columbus. Are you thinking what we’re thinking? It’s hat-trick time.

USWNT vs. Czech Republic (10 p.m., ESPN)

The SheBelieves Cup gets underway in Carson, California, with four Red Stars — Mallory Pugh, Tierna Davidson, Morgan Gautrat and Alyssa Naeher — on the U.S. roster.

FRI 18

NBA Rising Stars (8 p.m., TNT)

Ayo Dosunmu isn’t the biggest name on Team (Gary) Payton — that would be LaMelo Ball — but he absolutely deserves this honor. Squaring that with the punishment of a trip to Cleveland is another matter.

SAT 19

Illinois at Michigan State (11 a.m., ESPN)

Anybody else remember the nose-breaking forearm Dosunmu took from Mady Sissoko last year in East Lansing? Let’s hope the Illini remembered to pack their hard hats and their brass knuckles.

Drake at Loyola (5 p.m., ESPN2/ESPNU)

Last hurrah for this rivalry before Loyola’s move to the Atlantic-10? If the Ramblers are going to repeat as Missouri Valley champs, they have to avenge a loss three weeks ago to the Bulldogs.

NBA All-Star Saturday Night (7 p.m., TNT)

The Skills Challenge, Slam Dunk competition and Asterisk contest are always a good time. Hang on, did we say “Asterisk” contest? We meant “3-Point Without Steph Curry Participating” contest.

Olympic hockey: men’s gold medal game (10:10 p.m., USA)

The U.S. men weren’t among the favorites to get here, but that was before they handled Canada 4-2 in the preliminary round. A rematch, perhaps?

SUN 20

Daytona 500 (1:30 p.m., Fox-32)

Denny Hamlin is going for his fourth victory in this iconic race, which would tie him for second with Cale Yarborough behind the one and only Richard Petty (seven). But you knew all that already.

Panthers at Blackhawks (2 p.m., NBCSCH)

You’ve got to hand it to the Panthers, who have proved since firing Joel Quenneville that they’re still one of the NHL’s very best teams. And they didn’t even replace him with Jeremy Colliton.

NBA All-Star Game (7 p.m., TNT)

Wait, DeMar DeRozan and LaVine aren’t on the same team? Ah, well, that’s OK. Neither are Kevin Durant and James Harden, and look how well they get along.

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The preseason seems like a long time ago. It’s easy to forget that Young was expected to be Glenbard West’s equal back in November. Picking which team was the preseason No. 1 wasn’t an easy task.

The Hilltoppers have dominated from the start. Young struggled. Tyrone Slaughter’s team had to deal with injuries and some missing players in key games, but that has been the case for nearly every team in the state this season.

Young entered the city tournament with a resume that wasn’t worthy of being ranked at all. The Dolphins’ best win was a 73-70 victory against Proviso East and they weren’t competitive against Glenbard West. Young lost to St. Louis Vashon 58-50 on Feb. 5. Joliet West, with a freshman and two sophomores making varsity debuts, lost to Vashon by two points on the second day of the season.

Slaughter’s strategy over the last decade has been to travel around the country, play the best teams possible and not worry too much about his team’s record. It’s been an extremely successful formula. But just a week ago, it didn’t appear it was working with this group of players.

Things look different now. Young knocked off Kenwood, Curie, and Hyde Park to win the city title. AJ Casey and Dalen Davis, two players that have faced tremendous criticism and doubts over the past two years, have a city championship that cannot be denied. It was a sweet moment of redemption for the pair.

The city title win isn’t enough to crack the suburban stranglehold on the top two spots, but it’s clear the Dolphins are a major threat in the Class 4A state tournament.

The brackets are set up to allow a Young vs. Glenbard West matchup in the state championship. That would be a fantastic finish to the season.

Deep CCL

For most of the season, it appeared that Brother Rice, Mount Carmel, and St. Rita were the best teams in the Catholic League. The Caravan and Crusaders amassed large win totals and the very young Mustangs went through some highs and lows.

Over the past few weeks, it has become clear that Leo and DePaul Prep, two Class 2A schools, are right there with the Catholic League powers. Leo won the league title this week, finishing a perfect 13-0. DePaul, which has always looked the part, picked up wins against St. Rita and Brother Rice.

This is as deep as the Catholic League has been in recent memory. Tom Livatino’s Loyola team doesn’t have its usual stellar record, but the Ramblers are still very dangerous. They knocked off Mount Carmel this week.

Future star

Slaughter took a moment to acknowledge Curie sophomore Carlos Harris after the city title game.

“[Harris] is a player that this state is going to know about the ensuing years,” Slaughter said. “He’s a superstar in the making.”

Harris plays with Meanstreets, the club basketball team the Slaughter is affiliated with, but that doesn’t make him wrong. Harris is one of the few sophomores that has made a major impact on a ranked team’s season. He’s athletic, confident, and fearless.

Super 25 for Feb. 13, 2022

With record and last week’s ranking

1. Glenbard West (28-1)

Faces Simeon Saturday

2. Glenbrook South (28-2) 2

At Deerfield Wednesday

3. Young (20-9) 13

City champs

4. Simeon (23-4) 3

Will be pumped for Hilltoppers

5. Kenwood (22-7) 4

Hosts Thornton Wednesday

6. Hillcrest (24-3) 5

Isaiah Green is a force

7. Curie (24-6) 9

Future is bright

8. Leo (21-3) 7

Unbeaten in CCL

9. New Trier (26-3) 6

At Maine East Tuesday

10. Wheaton Warrenville South (28-2) 8

Handled St. Francis

11. Rolling Meadows (26-4) 10

At Barrington Wednesday

12. Hyde Park (19-7) 11

Gave Young all it could handle

13. Oswego East (29-1) 12

Earned top sectional seed

14. Thornton (20-9) 14

Can Ty Rodgers beat Kenwood?

15. Bolingbrook (24-6) 15

Beat Lockport, Neuqua Valley

16. Homewood-Flossmoor (18-7) 16

Christian Meeks is a difference maker

17. Larkin (26-3) 17

Will be a tough out in playoffs

18. Clark (19-4) 18

Took Curie to OT

19. Mount Carmel (24-4) 19

Beat Brother Rice

20. Lyons (22-5) 20

Survived Hinsdale Central

21. DePaul Prep (20-4) NR

Beat Brother Rice, St. Rita

22. Brother Rice (21-6) 22

Struggling at the wrong time

23. Burlington Central (26-3) 23

Hosts Huntley Friday

24. Bloom (19-5) NR

Beat Marian Catholic

25. Yorkville Christian (15-13) 25

Hosts St. Ignatius Tuesday

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DeMar DeRozan might not want to fold up that red cape anytime soon.

A Bulls team source confirmed that guard Zach LaVine will head to Los Angeles to see a specialist about the discomfort he’s been having in his left knee, and could miss the rest of the week leading up to the All-Star Break.

The Bulls don’t want to rule him out of the Sacramento game on Wednesday just yet and LaVine does believe there is no major structural damage in the knee, but the fact that there has been swelling and pain going back to January is weighing on his mind.

LaVine’s plan is to still participate in the All-Star Weekend, but of course that’s tentative on what he finds out.

He’s currently expected to be in the Three-Point Contest and a reserve in the actual All-Star Game.

What’s also been weighing heavily on LaVine’s mind, however, is being available for a possible deep playoff run, as well as the huge payday that’s sitting out there this summer, as he will be atop the free-agent class, looking for a max or super max money.

He’s already missed six games with the knee, as well as two with back spasms and two while he was in the league’s coronavirus protocol, but it’s the same knee that was surgically repaired back in 2017, after he tore his anterior cruciate ligament.

Therein lies the extra caution.

If LaVine does have to have an exploratory surgery or simply have to rest the knee short-term, that would put the Bulls down yet another significant piece. Lonzo Ball has started his rehab process from left knee surgery, Patrick Williams has been getting some serious work in with his surgically-repaired left wrist and could be back in a month, and then Alex Caruso (wrist surgery) is still in his original timetable to be re-evaluated after his fracture suffered last month.

The Bulls enter this last week before the break sitting in second place in the Eastern Conference, but have one of the more difficult schedules left this season, still having to face Milwaukee three more times, Miami and Cleveland twice, plus games with Utah, Phoenix and Memphis.

That means a lot falling on the shoulders of Nikola Vucevic, but undoubtedly DeRozan having to continue carrying the franchise on his back.

Not a task the veteran hasn’t been up for, even in his last five games scoring 35 points or more in each of them. A first for him in his long career.

“I just try to go out there and try to win no matter what and whatever the outcome comes with it,” DeRozan said, when told about the streak on Saturday. “If it’s records, my sole purpose of playing the way I play is just to win and whatever accomplishments come with it they just come with it.”

DeRozan has already put himself in the MVP discussion this season, but if he can keep the Bulls afloat through all of this? He might not win the award, but he better earn some votes.

Billy Donovan has coached a lot of elite scorers in the this league – Kevin Durant, Paul George, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook to name a few – so knows how impressive DeRozan has been, especially how he’s doing it mostly from the mid-range.

“[DeRozan’s] just a different kind of scorer,” Donovan said. “Durant, obviously, is off the charts as a scorer and having Russell Westbrook as a scorer… Carmelo [Anthony] I had a little bit later, Paul George.

“In terms of how [DeRozan] plays and what he does and where he gets to on the floor in today’s day and age…. when I was coaching Chris Paul two years ago, he was an unbelievable mid-range player. The unfortunate part is in today’s NBA there’s been a devaluing of those shots. And I think that not all three-point shots are created equal. I think people really seeing how dynamic [DeRozan] is I’d rather take two points than no points, you know?”

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Chicago Bulls All-Star guard Zach LaVine is traveling to Los Angeles to get further evaluation on his left knee but still hopes to participate in next Sunday’s All-Star Game, sources told ESPN.

LaVine has been experiencing discomfort in the knee for several weeks, and although a January MRI showed no structural damage, there’s certainly a level of concern within the organization, sources said.

LaVine was chosen to the second All-Star Game in his career and is averaging 24.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists so far this season. LaVine and Bulls teammate (and fellow All-Star) DeMar DeRozan have been the league’s highest-scoring team duo this season, averaging 52.3 points, according to ESPN’s Stats & Information.

1 Related

LaVine appeared to struggle through Friday’s victory over Minnesota, shooting 5-of-14 and noticeably wincing on the floor. LaVine sat out Saturday’s victory over Oklahoma City, and he missed consecutive games against Indiana and Philadelphia on Feb. 4 and 6. He will miss games on Monday and Wednesday ahead of the All-Star break, sources said.

The Bulls are withstanding numerous injuries to the backcourt this season, including Lonzo Ball (meniscus tear) and Alex Caruso (fractured wrist), who are out several weeks after undergoing surgery. The team also lost forward Patrick Williams to a wrist injury early in the season, although he’s expected to return this year.

Through it all, the Bulls are 36-21, one game behind first-place Miami in the Eastern Conference standings.

ESPN NBA reporter Jamal Collier contributed to this report.

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ST. LOUIS — It has been more than three years since the Blackhawks recorded fewer shots on goal than they did Saturday.

The Hawks barely mustered a fight on the scoreboard nor a challenge to Blues goalie Ville Husso, who faced only 16 shots in one of the easiest wins of his young NHL career — a 5-1 Blues romp.

“We knew it was going to be a challenge,” interim coach Derek King said. “But that’s not good enough. I’ve got to watch my words here, but we just can’t do that. We can’t put an effort out like that and hope to maybe steal a game from somebody. That’s not going to happen.”

The Hawks did play well, for once, in the second period. But Vladimir Tarasenko’s goal 41 seconds before intermission — extending the lead to 3-1 — broke the back of the Hawks, who hardly showed up for the third period.

They were outshot 13-2 in the final frame, inflating the final count to 31-16. That tied (with two games from 2021) for their fewest since November 2018.

“We were playing decent, and then they get that one,” Strome said. “It’s tough to go into the third period down two. It would’ve been nice to be down one. But either way, it wasn’t a good enough effort in the third to be close in that game.”

“Whether they packed it in or not, I think guys are trying — some guys,” King added. “They’re just limited to what they can do out there. It really shows against a team like this [what] your faults [are].”

In a season laden with examples of the Hawks inexplicably not shooting, Saturday provided several brutal new additions — particularly an instance where Brandon Hagel missed Strome on an ill-advised pass while standing all alone three feet in front of Husso.

“We refused to shoot pucks; we refused to drive the net,” King said. “It’s something we’re going to have to address.”

PK struggling

The Hawks’ penalty kill has quietly killed them lately. Conceding another goal Saturday dropped their kill rate since Thanksgiving to 66.7%, having allowed 28 goals on 84 opportunities. That ranks last in the NHL.

And they deserve that ranking: they’ve allowed the second-most shot attempts, 10th-most scoring chances and sixth-most expected goals against during that time period. They’re also one of three teams who haven’t scored a shorthanded goal since Thanksgiving.

“The PK is a tough job, and we’ve got some young guys that are working at it and they do some good things out there,” King said. “It always seems to be one goal that goes in and cripples us.”

Mental assistance

Patrick Kane pointed out Saturday something that’s good to hear: the Hawks have greatly increased the number and presence of their mental skills coaches available to help players.

“[They’re] around every day in the locker room, watching meetings, watching players, available to talk to players if there’s any certain situations going on,” Kane said. “It’s not something I’ve really seen before this year. We had certain guys, but they weren’t around all the time; they’d come in every now and then.

“The organization has done a really good job at trying to make sure we’re all protected as players and we have the availability to talk to certain people if need be.”

The Hawks’ front office directory now includes an entire “mental performance” section, listing director AJ Sturges and coach Peter Kadushin — both of whom were hired in July 2021 — as well as “mindset manager” Vincent Malts.

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There’s a fine line between being cautious and being concerned.

The Bulls found themselves on it Saturday.

Before their 106-101 victory Saturday against the Thunder at the United Center, coach Billy Donovan explained the situation with guard Zach LaVine’s left knee and how the team will be taking a different approach with it moving forward.

LaVine missed five games with soreness in the knee last month after spending weeks playing through some swelling and discomfort. The fact that it was the same knee in which he tore his anterior cruciate ligament in 2017 was a bit alarming for LaVine, but his mind was eased when an MRI exam showed no structural damage.

The discomfort wasn’t going away, however, so LaVine sat out the game against the Thunder and might start sitting out a game in back-to-backs.

”We had basically talked about trying to limit his back-to-back opportunities to kind of give his knee a chance to rest, but we’ll probably end up going day-to-day with him just to see how he’s feeling,” Donovan said of the short-term approach. ”For [Saturday], that was kind of the original plan, just to hold him [out]. I think he feels good about that. That’s an every-morning check-in just to see how he’s doing.”

LaVine obviously wasn’t doing very well Friday against the Timberwolves. He played 37 minutes but scored only 12 points on 5-for-14 shooting and was visibly favoring the knee in the second half.

So in the same week that the Bulls were talking about getting healthier for the final two-month push, they watched LaVine miss his 10th game of the season with possibly more to come.

With guards Lonzo Ball (knee surgery) and Alex Caruso (wrist surgery) and forward Patrick Williams (wrist surgery) on the mend but sidelined and forward Javonte Green (foot) needing a night off, having to monitor LaVine’s knee was just another gut punch.

”More often than not, he wants to play,” Donovan said. ”But if it’s a situation that he’s dealing with something that will cause longer-term issues or problems, I would say that he’s very smart and knows his body well.

”At the heart of him? Yeah, he wants to play. [But] he understands where his knee is at, he understands the plan, he understands what we’ve got to do to manage him and he’s part of that. He obviously signed off on it and agrees with it.”

The Bulls have two more games before the All-Star break, then LaVine is scheduled to compete in the three-point contest Saturday and the All-Star Game on Sunday. There was no word about him skipping either event.

”That would be something that would be up to Zach and the medical guys, just to see where he is at physically,” Donovan said.

First things first, however, and that was dealing with a scrappy Thunder team that built a 14-point lead in the first half before the Bulls eventually ran them down.

The big difference? The Thunder don’t have players such as DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic, and they had no answer for either. DeRozan finished with 38 points — his fifth consecutive game with 35 or more — and Vucevic added 31 points and 15 rebounds.

”It’s really amazing just watching him play,” Donovan said of DeRozan. ”He’s been doing this the entire year. He has great focus and concentration. He’s as good a scorer as I’ve been around.”

DeRozan was focused mostly on the victory.

”I just try to go out there every night and try and win,” said DeRozan, who didn’t realize the five consecutive 35-point-plus games were a career best. ”I don’t know what roll I’m on. I’m just being myself.”

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The original timetable for Bulls forward Derrick Jones Jr.’s recovery from injury hasn’t changed.

When Jones fractured his right index finger Jan. 25 — just as he was set to return from a bone bruise in his knee — the Bulls said it would take six to eight weeks to heal.

Playing, however, is a different story. Jones and the Bulls’ doctors always thought a splint and an ability to deal with some discomfort could get him back on the court sooner than that, and Jones was activated before the game Saturday against the Thunder at the United Center.

”Yeah, I think the biggest thing the first couple of weeks was about letting the finger calm down and letting the discomfort calm down,” coach Billy Donovan said. ”I think we got it to that place, and the next thing was [whether he] could get out there and do some contact. We’ve obviously been limited with practices, so trying to create some situations for him after shootarounds or even some days off where he can come in and do some things where there is contact.

”He’s had some discomfort there. I’m not going to say he feels 100%, and he doesn’t. But the doctors have always felt very comfortable that he could come back.”

Before the knee and finger sidelined him, Jones was helping the Bulls fill the void at forward left by the wrist injury to Patrick Williams. Along with Javonte Green, Jones often was defending players bigger than he is and focusing more on the defensive end, where the Bulls have had some issues.

Jones not only was establishing himself as a key player off the bench, but he had started eight games and was averaging 6.3 points and 3.4 rebounds.

Donovan did warn, however, that the Bulls still have to keep a close eye on Jones. The splint should protect the finger as it continues to heal, but it won’t protect him from dealing with pain on contact.

”The healing process is going to be six to eight weeks, but him playing was really going to be about how much discomfort he had to deal with and whether or not he could play with that discomfort,” Donovan said. ”When he gets hit there, there is some discomfort, but it’s not to the point where it was two weeks ago.”

Hard to rattle

Reserve guard Coby White said he had little concern about the NBA trade deadline Thursday coming and going — and with good reason.

”[Executive vice president of basketball operations] Arturas [Karnisovas], [general manager] Marc [Eversley], Billy, they never came to me and said anything about me being traded,” White said. ”So I won’t stress. I don’t pay attention to the internet and talking; that ain’t who I am. I just focus on how I can help the team and on bettering myself as a player and as a person. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters to me.”

Funk-y town

The Bulls have wanted to honor the broadcast career of Neil Funk since he called his last game at the end of the 2019-20 season, but they wanted the fans to be able to celebrate ”Neil Funk Night,” too.

The coronavirus protocols didn’t allow that last season, but the celebration finally took place Saturday. Funk had a 41-year broadcasting career and spent 28 seasons announcing for the Bulls.

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