11 observations: Bulls show early rust in preseason loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Chicago Bulls opened their 2021-22 preseason schedule by hosting the New Orleans Pelicans at the United Center Tuesday night — and put on a show for the fans that stuck around until the finish.
After falling behind by as many as 19 points in a rusty first half, they nearly won an end-of-bench battle of a fourth quarter, jumping ahead by three with four minutes to play before eventually falling 129-125.
Here are 10 observations:
1. It was not an inspiring start for the Bulls’ defense, which should be viewed skeptically with Lonzo Ball sidelined indefinitely. The Pelicans scored 40 points on 69.6 percent shooting in the first quarter, and enjoyed a relatively easy shot profile of open 3s (5-for-7) and cavernous lanes to the rim. It was an uncontested Jonas Valančiūnas layup that prompted Billy Donovan to call the game’s first timeout after 2:45 and New Orleans ahead 13-4.
2. Ayo Dosunmu drew the start at point guard, a position which Donovan plans to rotate throughout the preseason in search of a replacement for Ball. Other than fouling CJ McCollum for an and-one opportunity, nailing a corner 3 and niftily assisting a Zach LaVine triple in semi-transition, his early minutes weren’t loud. He finished with 10 points, three assists and two made long-balls, a solid start.
3. Javonte Green was the Bulls’ first substitute, spelling Patrick Williams at the 6:41 mark of the first quarter. He was a bright spot, cutting for a layup, hustling back in transition to force a deflection and tipping out another ball for a fastbreak dunk in his early run:
By night’s end, Green — improbably — was the Bulls’ second-leading scorer with 18 points. Look for his energetic style to be of use in a steady rotation role backing up Williams.
4. Donovan promised to play 10 men in the first half and delivered. The starters were Dosunmu, LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Williams and Nikola Vučević. Green, Alex Caruso, Goran Dragić, Coby White and Andre Drummond comprised the bench.
Each of those players played 10 or more minutes in the first half except for Drummond (seven, backing up Vučević) and Coby White. He missed two shots in three minutes of run before being pulled at the 1:14 mark of the first with a left knee contusion and did not return.
5. Dragić and Drummond were the Bulls’ only two free agent signings of note this offseason. With the it’s only preseason qualifier in big bold letters: Both had rough unofficial debuts.
Dragić committed three turnovers in his first four minutes of game action and later airballed a 3-pointer; Drummond also fumbled two turnovers attempting to dribble around the mid-post early on, although he finished with 4 points and 7 rebounds in 18 minutes and was, in a mildly funny development, ejected for picking up a second technical for stepping onto the court as the Bulls mounted their comeback midway through the fourth quarter.
6. Vučević started the scoring for the Bulls with a spinning post bucket, one of a handful of post-up possessions in his run. Moments later, he blocked Zion Williamson at the rim at the other end, one of three swats in the first quarter alone. That foreshadowed an active defensive game, which featured four blocks and three steals.
The statistics are a little deceiving as the Bulls’ defense was porous in the most competitive parts of the contest. But Vučević was largely sharp and comfortable offensively. He exited midway through the third with 23 minutes under his belt and a 15-point (6-for-9 shooting, 2-for-4 from 3-point range), 10-rebound double-double.
7. Elsewhere in the known quantities column, DeMar DeRozan looked himself, scoring 21 points on an assortment of midrange jumpers and 12 trips to the free throw line in (11 makes). LaVine poured in 10 points in the first half but rested for the final two quarters.
8. Caruso took LaVine’s spot in the starting lineup to open the second half and nearly catalyzed a comeback, supplying his typical brand of lockdown perimeter defense and pushing pace in a forceful manner as the Bulls trimmed a 17-point halftime deficit to as few as four.
The caveat was that many of the Pelicans’ key players — mainly, McCollum, Williamson and Herb Jones — were off the floor during the height of the Bulls’ run. But the United Center crowd hardly cared when regaling Caruso’s biggest highlight: a coast-to-coast lay-in plus a foul.
9. It’s the first preseason game. But in addition to their defensive issues, Tuesday’s game did little to quell fears that the Bulls failed to properly address their lack of 3-point shooting, especially with Ball out. They went 4-for-15 from 3 in the first half, with only LaVine making multiple. By game’s end, the percentage was a little better — 33.3 percent — but on 27 attempts, right around their last in the league average last year.
10. Good news: Williams took seven shots in his 17 minutes. Bad news: He made just two and struggled with the Williamson assignment at the other end. The Pelicans phenom looks to have his bounce back; he steamrolled past Williams for an easy dunk in the first quarter, and in all, notched 13 points on 4-for-6 shooting in 15 minutes.
11. Dalen Terry earns the preseason opener’s Mop-Up Time Player of the Game for posting 11 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals in the final quarter-and-a-half after making his unofficial debut midway through the third.
In all seriousness, Terry’s activity again stood out, from his transition sprint-outs to fouling Devonte’ Graham 16 seconds after first checking in.
The rookie noted after Monday morning’s shootaround that Dosunmu has consistently been in his ear early in his NBA career. Given Dosunmu’s unlikely rise from — like Terry now — out of the rotation to a consistent role last season, his is a good brain to pick. Terry’s hustle, defense and breakneck pace can make him a candidate to chart a similar path.
The Bulls fell to 0-1 in the preseason with the loss. Next up: Home for the Denver Nuggets on Friday.
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