Guard Tre Jones continues making a case to close games for Bulls

Tre Jones doesn’t have “closer” officially in his job title yet, but he’s fast-tracking in that direction.

He continued to make a case for himself late in Friday’s come-back win over Philadelphia, entering the game with 3:14 left until the final horn and the Bulls down a point.

All Jones did was score on a reverse layup, grab an offensive rebound off a Coby White step-back jumper, and then score a layup on that same possession that he helped keep alive. When the dust cleared on his free throw with 17.2 seconds left, Jones scored five points, been in the perfect spot to make plays, and helped deliver the seven-point win.

If it looks like a closer, smells like a closer, well …

“I love having him out there but there could be situations where we’re playing against a really big team,” coach Billy Donovan said on Saturday when asked if he was officially putting Jones in that closing role full-time. “I thought that happened in the first Atlanta game (Sunday). There may be sometimes against bigger teams where he’s not closing the game, but he’s done a really good job for us closing.”

What Jones does make up for in his lack of size in some matchups, however, is his IQ. There’s a reason why Donovan pushed for Jones to be extended this summer, reiterating before the Bucks game just what an extension the guard is to Donovan’s coaching chair.

“He’s just got a unique ability to (make winning plays),” Donovan added. “I can’t put my finger on it or whatever. I do think there’s things that players bring to the table that you want to bring out and foster. For him, it’s trying to give him the freedom to make plays. One, he’s always been a low turnover guy, so he makes good decisions with the basketball. He takes the right shots. He’s an uncanny finisher in the lane when he gets there, but he just has this instinct of just being able to tell what’s going to happen.

“He just reacts, he’s in the moment and he’s present. He knows when plays are big and what he’s got to do.”

Zach attack

If it feels like Josh Giddey and Zach Collins are building a really strong on-the-court pairing the last few weeks, it’s not an illusion.

“Zach is a different big guy than Vooch (Nikola Vucevic), and Vooch is a different big man than Jalen Smith,” Donovan said. “I think the way Vooch plays is he’s based on reading, like where is his man? He’s got a great IQ and feel for the game. ‘Do I pick, do I pop, do I roll?’ Where Zach is straight-up screen and a rim-diver. Over time you develop those connections with the big men, but it comes down to both guys really having to work together. It’s not all Josh, it’s not all Zach.”

Schedule crunch

Starting Friday against the 76ers, the Bulls have five games in the next week. That’s why Donovan reminded the likes of Dalen Terry, Julian Phillips and Jevon Carter to stay ready.

All three players have lost playing time with the Bulls leaning more on the two-big lineup.

“Last time we kind of got into (a heavy part of the schedule) was when we went out west, got back and started to lose some players, so you never want to see guys go down, but the density of games, a lot can happen, so these guys got to keep themselves available,” Donovan said.