Daily Bulls

The Chicago Bulls will play their home opener tonight against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Both teams are coming off losses for the Bulls losing last night to the Washington Wizards. While the Cavs lost their season opener against the Toronto Raptors. Both teams will be without starting point guards with Lonzo Ball out for Chicago. Cleveland will play tonight’s game without Darius Garland.

Matchup to Watch

Zach Lavine vs Donavon Mitchell

With Darius Garland out for the Cavs, Donavon Mitchell will have a more significant scoring role tonight when he faces Zach Lavine and the Bulls. In his Cavaliers debut, Mitchell scored 31 points and got nine assists on 12-for-21 shooting from the field. Mitchell got traded over the summer to Cleveland in exchange for Lauri Markkanen, Ochai Agbaji, Collin Sexton, three first-round picks, and two pick swaps to the Utah Jazz.

After missing the first two games due to left knee management, Zach Lavine will make his 2022-2023 regular season debut in a competitive matchup against the Cavs. Lavine will most likely have the tough assignment of guarding Mitchell. There is a possibility Lavine could be a minutes restriction, but the Bulls will need his scoring production to match Mitchell. Lavine averaged 8.7 points and 3.0 assists during the preseason in three games.

Keys to the Game

Scoring Production from Williams and Dosunmu

If Chicago has plans to get past the first round of playoffs, Patrick Williams will need to play better. In the first two games, he not scored in double-digits and put up seven points last night. He had the worst plus/minus as a Bulls starter at -23 against the Wizards. Moving without the ball is vital for Williams to succeed with DeRozan and/or Lavine on the court. He can not stand still in the corner and wait to take a problematic three-point shot. Against Cleveland, he will have a tough assignment against tall and lengthy Evan Mobley.

Ayo Dosunmu became quiet after the first quarter against the Wizards last night. With Garland out and playing in the United Center, he has a good chance of having a bounce-back game. Throughout the first five quarters of the season, he can see his confidence has grown, and he has become an excellent two-way player to watch. Last season, as a starter at the United Center, he averaged 9.9 points and 5.4 assists but shot 53.1% from the field and 37.5% from three.

Perimeter/Transition Defense

During the first two games, at times, the Bulls perimeter/transition defense seemed to not exist. That led to the Wizards taking a double-digit lead within the first minute of the second half. In game one of the season, Chicago allowed Miami got wide open three pointers by bad transition defense. Tonight will be a tough and physical battle and points will be hard to score on both sides. It doesn’t help when you face two centers at least seven feet tall of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley.

If the Bulls can get back on defense and pick up their man fast, that will be key. You do not want your small guards making mistakes by somehow guarding Allen or Mobley. That would allow a mismatch and possibly easy two points in the post. Communicating by every Bulls player will be necessary. If Chicago is locked in defensively for 48 minutes, the Bulls can send the Cavaliers back home with a 0-2 record.

Injury Report

Bulls

Player	Injury	Status
Lonzo Ball	Knee	Out

Cavaliers

Player	Injury	Status
Darlius Garland	Eye	Out
Dylan Windler	Ankle	Out
Ricky Rubio	Knee	Out

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