Daily Bulls

The Chicago Bulls pick up their first win of the 2022 Preseason against the Denver Nuggets, 131-113. Chicago got led by Demar DeRozan again with 22 points, going 9-for-15 from the field. Zach Lavine struggled with seven points but got his teammates involved with six assists, which is good to see from him.

Jamal Murray got defended well by Ayo Dosunmu and went 0-for-4 from the field before exiting the game with a hamstring injury. Michael Porter Jr finished the game with 20 points and seven rebounds, shooting 4-for-8 from three and eight total shots made. Nikola Jokic did not make the trip to Chicago due to a wrist injury. DeAndre Jordan started in place of Jokic and got seven points and ten rebounds in 22 minutes.

Javonte Green gets the Start instead of Patrick Williams

Remember, before the Preseason, Donavon said he would try out different lineups. Before tipoff, Billy Donavon announced Javonte Green would start at power forward instead of Patrick Williams. With Green in the starting lineup, he added a faster pace to the offense, and the ball got moved around well. After the game, when Billy Donavon got asked about Green starting over Williams, he explained how the move is not a permanent demotion.

Javonte Green finished the game with 15 points and five rebounds, shooting 5-for-7 from the field. Green was productive, especially with some back door cuts to help out DeRozan and Lavine, which last season didn’t happen too much once Lonzo Ball went out. Last season, Chicago became more of an Iso team, standing around and watching Lavine or DeRozan take almost every shot type of offense.

Patrick Williams, after the game, “My job is to be productive and use my talents to try to help the team win. I think that’s everybody’s job.” Williams, on his reaction to Donavon getting him the news about Green getting the start, “I was all for it. I kind of saw where he was coming from in terms of him bringing energy to that first group. And I think it worked. We won.” Last season, Chicago had a 27-18 record when Javonte Green was a starter.

The New Bench Mob?

Patrick Williams, his presents were known when he played with possibly the new bench mob. The bench mob lineup for the game is Goran Dragic, Coby White, Alex Caruso, Patrick Williams, and Andre Drummond. This lineup seemed to click, with everybody touching the ball and creating a good shot. After the Bulls started the second half with a double-digit lead and a solid third quarter, the new bench mob put the game out of reach with a 16-9 run to finish the third quarter. The first five points of the run got scored by Williams, who felt more comfortable as a scorer with the second unit.

The rest of the bench mob lineup had solid performances, especially Goran Dragic and Coby White. Dragic got eight points and two assists, with one of those assists going to Drummond for an alley-oop dunk. White became a knock-down shooter, got open looks and 2-for-4 from three, and finished the game with 15 points. He ended the game with the most significant plus/minus, +13. Could this be the new bench mob? Yes, but the lineup will likely include Zach Lavine or DeMar DeRozan on the floor at all times.

JFL and Marko get Playing Time

In the fourth quarter, once the bench mob and starters exited the game. The reserve players got the chance to shine, with Dalen Terry making another appearance, Javon Freeman-Liberty, and Marko Simonovic. Terry finished the game with five points and one steal. Liberty was not available for the first preseason game, unlike Simonovic, who never got his name called to get in the game.

The former DePaul guard, Liberty, got eight points and knocked two out of his four threes. Marko Simonovic and Carlik Jones got zero points each in the final 5:34 minutes of the game.

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