Fred Hoiberg’s pace-and-space offensive philosophy has been missing in action for much of his tenure. But the Bulls finally are showing some progress.

When they dropped to 3-20, they ranked 23rd in pace at 98.3 possessions per 48 minutes, according to nba.com. Over the recent 9-2 stretch, they have ranked second behind the Lakers with 101.7 possessions per 48. The Bulls now rank 12th overall.

“We put drills in to stress getting out fast, even on made baskets — get the ball out of the net quickly and get it up the floor to try to score before the defense gets set,” said Hoiberg, who singled out Kris Dunn and David Nwaba for leading the revival.

Layups:The Bulls assigned Cristiano Felicio to Gatorade League, where he was to play Thursday night in the Windy City Bulls game against the Canton Charge in Cleveland. Felicio, who signed a four-year, $32 million deal in free agency, dropped out of the rotation when Nikola Mirotic returned.

—K.C. Johnson