Bulls fall to Timberwolves as bodies begin to stack up in training room

The lopsided score plastered all around the United Center on Monday was the least of Bulls head coach Billy Donovan’s problems.

Before the Timberwolves took the Bulls to the woodshed in a 136-101 rout, Donovan told the media that backup center Zach Collins would be out for at least a week with a sprained big toe on his right foot.

Losing a backup big man would be a body blow at worst for most teams, but the Bulls aren’t most teams. The way their roster is constructed is so fragile that losing any piece in the main 10-man rotation instantly is grounds for a standing eight-count.

The knockout, however, came a couple of hours later.

First Coby White left the game with a recurrence of the strained right calf that cost him almost three months after he originally injured it in August. Then 30 seconds into the second half, guard Josh Giddey grabbed his left hamstring, walked straight to the locker room and didn’t return.

That meant Donovan was without his two leading scorers, one of his best rebounders and playmakers in Giddey and the physicality in the paint that Collins brings.

Good luck.

‘‘It’s definitely a shock, of course,’’ forward Isaac Okoro said of the injuries after the game. ‘‘Those are two of the guys [Giddey and White] that usually have the ball in their hands for this team, that play-make for this team. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to step up as a team. Everybody has to be a little better, take it up a notch but still play their game.’’

That was Donovan’s message to the players in the locker room afterward.

‘‘Are the injuries impactful? Yes, but these guys are all pros and are here to play,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘I think there’s enough there with [guards] Ayo [Dosunmu], Kevin Huerter and Tre Jones to carry the load.’’

There wasn’t enough there Monday, and the Timberwolves took full advantage of it.

When White checked out in the first quarter, the Bulls led 9-8. When Giddey left, they trailed only 55-53.

By the time the fourth quarter started, however, the Timberwolves were up 95-78 after outscoring the suddenly undermanned Bulls 40-28 in the third.

The only injury Donovan had any sort of clarity on was Collins’, and even that was a wait-and-see.

‘‘Because of the swelling and stuff, the doctors want to let it calm down, not put a timeline on it,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘I certainly don’t anticipate him being back this week, but I think in a couple of days we’ll have a better idea once he sees the doctors.’’

Collins isn’t a player the Bulls can afford to be without for very long, and the Timberwolves reminded them exactly why. Not only did they outrebound the Bulls, but they outscored them in the paint.

‘‘I feel bad for Zach,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘I think he’s played very well, and coming out of the wrist injury and the break [suffered in the preseason], keeping himself in shape and then coming back, I think he made a pretty significant impact and allowed us to play big. His physicality, rebounding [and] some of the things he did screening-wise really helped us.’’

The Bulls (15-17) have a day off Tuesday before hosting the Pelicans on Wednesday, so they don’t exactly have a lot of time to heal. If there was a silver lining after the game, it was that Giddey appeared to be in good spirits and left the arena without any noticeable discomfort.

A short-term setback? Donovan and the Bulls had better hope so.