The Chicago Bulls traveled to the house of the reigning NBA champions to face the Denver Nuggets of their third preseason sport Sunday.
The Bulls misplaced 116-102 as coach Billy Donovan gave prolonged taking part in time to the younger core of the secondary rotation.
Here are 5 issues we discovered from Sunday’s sport.
1. Patrick Williams flexed offensive aggressiveness — however rebounding stays a lingering difficulty.
Any followers in search of indicators of a extra aggressive Williams have been rewarded within the first quarter, when the fourth-year ahead scored 10 factors.
Williams confirmed flashes of a extra aggressive model of himself all through his 25 minutes on the courtroom, scoring 20 factors on 8-for-14 capturing, together with 3-for-5 from 3-point vary. His finest play was a easy but decisive isolation mixture within the second quarter on which he collected a cross behind the 3-point line, dropped his shoulder to take two dribbles towards the paint earlier than faking, spinning and pulling the set off on a midrange stepback.
That kind of play can elevate Williams’ offensive sport. The query is whether or not he could make the identical kind of fast resolution when he’s on the courtroom with the starters fairly than helming the second unit.
And whereas Williams was improved on the offensive finish, Sunday’s sport was missing in a single key space: rebounding. Williams completed with two defensive rebounds and didn’t document an offensive board. Coach Billy Donovan has emphasised this as a key space of progress for Williams, but he has solely six rebounds by means of three preseason video games.
2. Starters took the evening off.
Veterans Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vučević didn’t play Sunday. Donovan stated Saturday the trio possible would sit out, then rotate again into the lineup for the ultimate two preseason video games at house towards the Toronto Raptors and Minnesota Timberwolves.
Donovan used the primary two preseason video games to check how the three starters match with Coby White as the start line guard and to establish the very best combos for secondary rotations with LaVine and DeRozan on the courtroom.
3. Torrey Craig earned a begin.
With the three starters sitting out, Craig confirmed why the Bulls count on him to be a quietly constant contributor, ending with 4 rebounds, two factors and an help.
Craig has been slotted into the second unit behind Williams, though Donovan wasn’t set on retaining Williams within the beginning lineup at first of the preseason. While Craig isn’t a significant scorer, his versatility as a defender and rebounder will likely be essential.
4. Andre Drummond battled with Nikola Jokić.
While the Bulls sat their three stars, the Nuggets performed two-time MVP Nikola Jokić and nearly all of their starters for 23 minutes. This gave backup heart Andre Drummond a possibility to check himself towards the most effective large males within the league.
Drummond completed with 9 factors and 10 rebounds in a bodily matchup towards Jokić.
As a smaller workforce, the Bulls have had issues defending greater threats similar to Jokić, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid. Drummond has been an occasional reply, however his minutes off the bench have been by no means constant final season.
5. The Bulls took step one towards finalizing the roster.
The Bulls waived guard Quenton Jackson on Monday as they start to set the roster for opening day on Oct. 25. A Texas A&M product, Jackson performed final season on a two-way contract with the Washington Wizards and the G League’s Capital City Go-Go.
Jackson was with the Bulls on an Exhibit 10 contract, which is designed for groups to signal gamers particularly for coaching camp to compete for a remaining roster spot. After his launch, the Bulls have 18 gamers on the roster forward of the Oct. 23 deadline to chop to fifteen.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com