After a less-than-stellar preseason debut against the New Orleans Pelicans, the Chicago Bulls looked like a completely different team on Friday night.
From the moment the ball tipped, the Bulls played with a newfound sense of urgency and aggressiveness. Zach LaVine and Co. immediately entered attack mode, pushing the pace in transition and bringing intense pressure at the rim for the first two quarters. Chicago outscored Denver 40-24 in the paint and 16-5 in the fastbreak en route to 72 first-half points.
While it may not have been the most pristine two-quarters of basketball, it was jam-packed with one highlight play after another.
You know, like …
- LaVine hitting his fellow All-Star with a perfect bounce pass in transition.
- Alex Caruso stealing cookies and dunking them in milk.
- Andre Drummond playing like the backup big man the Bulls need.
- DeMar DeRozan doing DeMar DeRozan things.
- Dosunmu looking like a starting point guard.
- And Zach LaVine carving up defenders like a max player.
We’ll now have to see if the Bulls can carry this momentum into the second half. But, regardless, it’s nice to see this team immediately show some progress in their second game of the preseason. Let’s keep it up!