According to Chicago Bulls Head Coach Billy Donavon, forward Javonte Green suffered a hip pointer injury in yesterday’s practice and sat out today’s non-contract practice.
His status for opening night on October 19th and the injury’s seriousness is unclear. Typically hip pointer injuries take about 1-2 weeks to recover from and gain the entire ability from the upper outside of your hip. If Green is somehow out longer than two weeks, that might suggest the injury is worse than expected.
But that is the worst-case scenario, and the Bulls do not want another bone bruise injury. The other Bulls player with a bone bruise injury right now is guard Lonzo Ball, who will be for the first couple of months of the season.
Javonte Green is coming off a great preseason with the Bulls averaging 15.0 points and 5.0 rebounds on 71.4% shooting from the field and 66.7% from three in four games. Green has earned the opportunity to start opening night, but that might not happen with the hip pointer injury. If Green is not ready, Patrick Williams will get the start for Chicago on Wednesday. By Tuesday, Bulls fans will know whether or not Green will be 100% ready to go. But more information should come out from the Bulls over the weekend.
Lonzo Ball, Justin Lewis, and Javonte Green are the three players on the Bulls’ injury report. By Tuesday, Bulls fans will know whether or not Green will be 100% ready to go. More information should come out from the Bulls over the weekend.
Patrick Williams and the Chicago Bulls wrap up preseason action with a win over the Milwaukee Bucks, 127-104. Most of the regular players for the Bucks did not play and weren’t on the bench. Milwaukee used seven players and went every starter scoring in double-digits. The Bucks’ leading scorer was Jordan Nwora, with 25 points. Every Bulls player got the chance to play except for Zach Lavine and DeMar DeRozan.
Dalen Terry and Coby White Start
Zach Lavine and DeMar DeRozan were out for the game because of rest, which meant Terry and White got the chance to start the game. Coby White finished the game with 15 points on 5-for-12 shooting. White has found himself more playing at shooting guard, but at times was being a point guard alongside Ayo Dosunmu.
Dalen Terry got kept quiet with five points on 2-for-3 shooting from the field. But the stats don’t matter for Terry once again, as he finished the game with the highest plus/minus +20. The plus/minus stat shows how well a player played on the court.
Aggressive Patrick Williams
The player with the most minutes for the Bulls was Patrick Williams, with 31. He got to put 22 points on 9-for-17 shooting from the field. If you watched the game, you could see that Williams was more active on the offense, making the right back door cuts for easy or taking a good mid-range shot. These are things that Williams must be consistent with during the season.
After being sluggish during the first three preseason games, Billy Donavon played the most minutes out of any preseason to help get his confidence back up. It’s unknown if Williams will start next week against the Heat for the season opener.
Final Thoughts
Bulls finish preseason strong
Nikola Vucevic and Patrick Williams finished the preseason on a good note with good performances. The second-half bench once again exploded for Chicago, with Andre Drummond, Goran Dragic, and Javonte Green being the significant big three. The ball movement from the bench was outstanding to watch and see what can happen when one player doesn’t chew the shot clock.
Drummond, Dragic, and Green combined for 33 points and impacted the Bucks, shooting 34.7% from the field in the second half. Chicago outscored Milwaukee 66-45 in the second half. The Bulls’ most significant lead of the game was 27 points, and Chicago won by 23 points, 127-104.
Only Seven Players play for Milwaukee
With the Milwaukee Bucks playing an unusual set of back-to-back games, they decide not to send most of their regular players to Chicago to play. The only known on the Bucks that could have played was Bobby Portis, and he did not play. Hopefully, Bucks fans will get to see their big three later today on ESPN tonight when they play the Nets.
Up Next
Chicago will open the 2022-23 Season in Miami on October 19th.
Milwaukee will return home face Brooklyn today, October 12th.
The Chicago Bulls will play their final preseason of 2022 at the United Center against I-90 rival Milwaukee Bucks. This game will be the first time they have seen each other since Milwaukee eliminated Chicago in the first round of the 2022 Postseason. Chicago is coming off their second straight preseason win up north against the Raptors, 115-98. On Saturday, the Bucks played the Atlanta Hawks and lost 118-109 in Abu Dhabi.
Player to Watch
Patrick Williams
With Zach Lavine and DeMar DeRozan being ruled against the Bucks. This will mean Patrick Williams will get more minutes and opportunities to shoot. If Williams can find good chemistry with Caruso, Drummond, and other bench players, he could find himself coming off the bench. But will most likely be in the game finish games depending on the matchup. Williams will have not to worry about Giannis since he will be resting.
Keys to the Game
Hot Start
Last season, one of the few things that were difficult for the Bulls against great teams was getting a good start. During the playoffs against the Bucks, the Bulls won the first quarter battle once during the series, which helped Chicago get their only win of the series. Chicago can’t afford to play from behind anymore against Milwaukee or any contender. So far in the preseason, the Bulls have won one first quarter, which was barely won, 27-26 against the Denver Nuggets.
One player to get the ball early offensive is Nikola Vucevic. The offense will revolve around Vucevic with DeRozan and Lavine out. Vucevic tends to play better on defense when getting hot on offense early in games. Getting Vucevic involved early in the post-game will help his confidence for the rest of the game.
Limit the turnovers
At times, Chicago is making the right plays and passes. But at other times, the Bulls make bad mistakes and force too much. Yes, “it’s the preseason.” But the Bucks will make you pay, and the Bulls don’t want to watch Giannis go full speed on a fast break. With early tests to begin the season for Chicago against Miami, an improved Washington team, and Cleveland, it’s time to stay clean and limit the turnovers.
Chicago has had one preseason game with under 15 turnovers, which was against the Nuggets. But the Bulls, in the other preseason games, had at least 20 turnovers. Last season, when the Bulls committed more than 17+ turnovers, they had a 3-8 record. If they can keep the turnovers to under 18, the Bulls have a strong possibility of finishing the preseason with a 3-1 record.
The Chicago Bulls get their first road win of 2022 against the Toronto Raptors, 115-98. First time for Chicago to hold their opponent to under 100 points. For the third consecutive game, DeMar DeRozan led the Bulls in points with 21. Pascal Siakam led the Raptors in scoring with 18 points and got nine rebounds but went 7-for-17 from the field. Both teams will have one more preseason game before the 2022-23 NBA season begins.
Billy Donavon decided to give Derrick Jones Jr a shot with the starters. This decision comes after Donavon said pregame he had a good training camp and deserved a chance to play more with the starters. Jones did not play much during the first two preseason games, with 20 minutes combined. He finished the game with six points in 18 minutes.
Sluggish first half for Chicago
Both teams finished shooting 41.3% from the field in the first half, but did the Raptors have a 57-47 leading into halftime? Careless turnovers, and that was on display throughout the first half against the Raptors. Chicago finished the first half with 16 turnovers, leading to 12 fastbreak points for the Raptors. So which Bulls player gave up the most turnovers in the first half? Zach Lavine.
Lavine had five turnovers and struggled, shooting 1-for-7 from the field. He would finish the game with nine points and shot 3-for-9 from the field but went 2-for-2 in the second half. He should be able to bounce in the last preseason against I-90 rival Milwaukee Bucks.
Javonte Green brought needed energy for the starters in third quarter
Coming out of halftime, Billy Donavon decided to put in Javonte Green to play with the starters. Green did not play in the first half. Javonte Green was the guy the starters needed because, within the first 1:11 of the third quarter, Chicago went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead down to three. Halfway through the third quarter, a Zach Lavine three-pointer got the Bulls their first lead since the first quarter.
All the Bulls starters were officially taken out of the game when they went up by four points, 73-69. Green scored six points and went 2-for-2 from deep in the third quarter. Four Bulls players scored at least six points in the third quarter: DeRozan, Lavine, Vucevic, and Green.
Bulls Small Ball lineup dominates in fourth quarter
After a couple of unexpected Andre Drummond three-pointers, Billy Donavon decided to run Derrick Jones Jr at the center position to have a small ball lineup with 6:39 left in the game. The others to join Jones Jr on the court were Terry, Green, White, and Dosunmu. Everybody got involved, including Javonte Green, who had 11 points in the fourth quarter. Chicago would score Toronto 22-11 with the small ball lineup and take complete demand of the game.
The Bulls completely dominated in the fourth quarter outscoring the Raptors 38-11 and shooting 70% from the field. Toronto finished the fourth quarter shooting 20%. They went 0-for-10 from three and couldn’t find any way to get back in the game. Chicago would go on to win the game 115-98 and are now 2-1 in the preseason.
Final Thoughts
Does Green deserve to be a starter?
Entering training camp, the Bulls were focused on the point guard battle between Ayo Dosunmu and Goran Dragic. But the battle is Patrick Williams and Javonte Green. Green has played better, and the Bulls are looking for energy-type plays, which Green provides. Javonte Green finished the game shooting 7-for-8 from the field, which resulted in 17 points. It’s unclear who will start on Tuesday against the Bucks. Expectations should be that Green gets the start.
Shooting struggles continue for Toronto
The central theme for Toronto during the preseason is their lack of shooting. Toronto has shot below 50% from the field in each game during the preseason. Fred Vanvleet struggled from deep shooting 3-for-12 but managed to get 13 points. The Raptors will get one more chance on Friday to get hot before their first regular season game against the Cavaliers on October 19th.
(Photo by Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The Chicago Bulls will go on the road for the first time this preseason to take on the Toronto Raptors. Toronto is coming off a 116-100 loss to the Houston Rockets and has a 2-1 preseason record. Chicago got their first preseason win on Friday against the Denver Nuggets, 131-113. Last season, the Bulls won three out of the four matchups, with their only loss happening on February 3rd, 127-120.
Matchup to Watch For
Scottie Barnes vs DeMar DeRozan
DeRozan will return to Toronto, where he played his first nine seasons in the NBA. He has the most points in Toronto Raptors history with 13,296 points. But DeMar DeRozan will get his first test against 2021-22 Rookie of the Year and the future star of the Raptors, Scottie Barnes.
Among rookies, he was top five in steals (1.1 Steals) and blocks (0.7). But Barnes has struggled so far during the preseason and has not scored in double-digits. On Friday against Houston, Barnes scored two points and didn’t make a shot. Barnes has what it takes to stop DeRozan, but will he stop the King of the Mid-Range Sunday afternoon?
Keys to the Game
Get Zach Lavine going
Zach Lavine has made it clear he is 100% ready but has not been efficient on offense so far in the preseason. Lavine didn’t play with the starters in the second half of the first preseason game. In preseason game two, Lavine struggled with seven points, shooting 3-for-8 from the field. But he got his teammates involved with six assists.
Expect a bounce-back game for Lavine when the Bulls head north to take on the Raptors. Last season, when Chicago lost their only game of the season against Toronto, Lavine scored only 15 points in 42 minutes.
Interior Defense
One of the most significant strengths of the Toronto Raptors is their ability to score whenever they want to in the paint. Toronto has scored at least 50 points in the paint in all three preseason games. That includes when they put up 70 points in the paint in a 125-119 win over the Celtics. You won’t win many games during the NBA season if you can’t defend the paint.
These matchups are why Andre Drummond got signed for a two-year deal, and Nikola Vucevic will get tested early and often in the paint. Last season, Chicago struggled big time to defend the paint against Toronto and was the main reason Chicago couldn’t get the season sweep. On Friday against Denver, the Bulls allowed 44 points in the paint, which is an excellent sign.
The Chicago Bulls have announced they have waived guard Javon Freeman-Liberty. The undrafted rookie from Chicago played on the Bulls Summer League team and appeared in one preseason game (last night against Denver).
Last night against Denver, Liberty scored eight points and made two three-pointers in the game’s final six minutes. His best performance came when he scored 11 points and shot 4-for-7 from the field in a 119-104 win over the 76ers. While in Vegas with the Bulls, he averaged 6.6 points on 38.7% shooting from the field and 40% from three. During his senior year at DePaul, he averaged 21.7 points and 7.3 rebounds and shot 43% from the field.
Liberty will get his chance somewhere else
Liberty’s career is not over, and he will most likely get the chance to compete for a two-way contract elsewhere. Another option for Liberty is getting a G League contract and working his way up to the NBA. If the 29 other NBA teams don’t give him a chance, the Chicago Bulls G League team, The Windy City Bulls, might give him a chance.
Why not give the guy from Chicago who went to DePaul a chance? The last option for Liberty is to play basketball overseas. Current Bulls forward Javonte Green played overseas before returning to the NBA.
Who is still competing for the Two-Way Contract?
The main three players competing for the two-way contract are Kostas Antetokounmpo, Carlik Jones, and Malcolm Hill. Every NBA team can offer up to two two-way contracts. Justin Lewis has one of the two two-way contracts. Malcolm Hill signed a two-way contract already, but Chicago can give the contract to either Kostas or Carlik. These players will get fewer minutes every game, with the starters getting more minutes every game, according to Head Coach Billy Donavon.
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.
The Chicago Bulls will play their second preseason of 2022 against the Denver Nuggets tonight at 7:00 CT. Chicago lost their first preseason on Tuesday against the New Orleans Pelicans, 129-125. Denver also lost their first preseason game on Monday against the Oklahoma City Thunder, 112-101. Both teams were sixth seeds last season in the postseason, and both lost in five games in the first round, with the Bulls losing to the Bucks and the Nuggets losing to the future NBA Champions, the Golden State Warriors.
Matchup to Watch
Jamal Murray vs Ayo Dosunmu
If Nikola Jokic were playing against the Bulls, the matchup would be Jokic vs. Vucevic. But with Jokic not playing, the next best matchup will be Ayo Dosunmu against Jamal Murray. With the starters not being released, I expect Dosunmu to start for the second straight preseason game. Against the Pelicans, he got 10 points and three assists in 23 minutes. Dosunmu will get his first defensive test of the preseason against Murray, who has not played in a regular season game since April 12th, 2021.
Jamal Murray will be the most significant player for the Nuggets tonight, with Nikola Jokic being ruled out earlier today. NBA fans can quickly forget this man put up a 50-point performance in the Bubble against the Utah Jazz. In Murray’s first game since last year, he scored 10 points, going 4-for-7 from the field in 15 minutes of action. Before he got hurt, Murray averaged 21.2 points, 4.8 assists, and 4.0 rebounds in the 2020-21 season.
3 Keys to the Game
Hot Start
Yes, it’s just preseason, and it was the first preseason game for the Bulls. But that’s not an excuse for allowing 40 points in the first quarter. The Pelicans got a good start with a 13-4 run and finished the quarter with 40 points. Chicago scored 25 points but couldn’t get back in the game until the second half. Everybody except for Vucevic didn’t want to play any defense and not rotate to shooters standing at the three.
Denver struggled in the first quarter against the Thunder on Monday as well. The Nuggets out outscored 30-21 in the first quarter. If Chicago can click more offensively and show how good their new “random” offense, that could be a massive help in getting their first preseason win of 2022.
Paint Defense
Another reason for the Bulls’ slow start on Tuesday was their lack of paint defense. The Bulls allowed 18 points in the paint in the first quarter alone and 62 points for the entire game. I understand that 12 points out of those came from Zion Williamson, who is unstoppable.
Chicago finished the game with seven blocks, four coming from Vucevic, who had four. One player to look for a solid bounce-back game defensively is Andre Drummond. Drummond was active on the boards with seven but was not present in the paint.
Take Care of the Ball
Again, it’s the preseason, and you can expect teams to commit many turnovers in their first preseason game, but 26 turnovers are too much. Zach Lavine led the Bulls with four turnovers. The Bulls had eight turnovers in the first quarter, allowing New Orleans to score eight fast break points.
The Pelicans got held ten fast breaks for the rest of the game, which helped Chicago get back in the game. But losing by double-digits in the first quarter will hurt your chances of winning any games, especially if you want to make a deep playoff push.
In the Chicago Bulls’ first preseason game of 2022, almost everybody played except for one player. The starters played for at least 17 minutes, and Javonte Green had the most minutes off the bench with 21. According to Bulls Head Coach Billy Donavon, starters will get more minutes every preseason game. That could mean fewer minutes in the second half for some of the bench players fighting for minutes or getting sent to the G League or released. So with that, here are three players on the Bulls who 100% should play more minutes tomorrow night.
1. Marko Simonovic
Remember when I said almost everybody played except for one player? That one player was Marko Simonovic. Tony Bradley got the minutes as the center in the closing minutes on Tuesday against New Orleans. The reason why Simonovic didn’t get any minutes is unclear. Simonovic has spent most of his two-year NBA career in the G League with the Windy City Bulls and has appeared in nine NBA games.
This season will be the final season of Simonovic’s contract, and he is most likely to spend the season in the G League. But he deserves a chance to prove himself. His biggest concern is defense, and he responded by bulking up from 215 pounds to 240 over the summer. He will hopefully get the chance to play tomorrow night.
2. Dalen Terry
Every Bulls fan is on the Dalen Terry train after leading the Bulls in the fourth quarter to take command of the game. Unfortunately, Terry and the Bulls couldn’t get the win, but you can see why Chicago chose Dalen Terry with the 18th pick in the 2022 NBA draft. He finished the game with 11 points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes. Terry has earned the chance to have more minutes, especially with the starters, and should play in the first half.
Dalen Terry is now in a similar situation to Ayo Dosunmu last season when he entered the league. Like Dosunmu, Terry will have to earn minutes by playing good defense when given the opportunity. Injuries will happen throughout the season, and Terry will have a couple of games with at least 15-20 minutes, but it’s unknown what his role will be. He will need to become a knock-down shooter and cutter to the basket with Lavine or DeRozan on the floor. In the first preseason game, Bulls nation saw Terry attack the rim and find his teammates for some buckets. Bulls fans might see a little preview of Terry playing with Lavine and or DeRozan for the first time this season.
3. Goran Dragic
Let’s be honest: Goran Dragic had a bad Bulls preseason debut. Dragic went 1-for-4 from the field, resulting in 2 points, and played 13 minutes against the Pelicans. If he wants any chance of getting the starting point guard spot, Dragic must respond with a solid performance tomorrow night. Just remember, he is still getting used to his new teammates, and a new system will take time. Dragic got signed by the Bulls to play 20-25 minutes while Ball is recovering from the bone bruise injury and for his playoff experience.
According to Keith Smith, the Chicago Bulls have decided to pick up their 2023-24 team option on Patrick Williams. Picking up the fourth year of his rookie contract will mean Williams will receive his fully guaranteed money at $9.8M.
Williams, 21 years old, will start his third NBA season with the expectations of having a more significant role on the Bulls roster. Over the summer, he trained with teammate DeMar DeRozan in Los Angeles, who helped with his confidence and all-around game. “I think he put me through everything,” Williams said. “If that wasn’t everything, then he’s different.”
Last season, he played for only 21 games due to a wrist injury that occurred in the fifth game of the season against the New York Knicks. That wrist injury cost him 4-6 months, and he returned in late March. He finished the season averaging 9.0 points and 4.1 rebounds. During the postseason, he got the tough assignment of guarding superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and well, it wasn’t fun for Williams. The Bulls lost in the first round of the 2022 Postseason against the Bucks. The Bucks got led by Giannis, who averaged 28.6 points, 13.4 rebounds, and 6.2 assists on 56.8% shooting from the field.
What does this move mean?
This move by the Bulls was expected, but Chicago wants to see an entire season of Patrick Williams before deciding whether to give him an extension offer. Williams has played 88 out of the possible 162 regular season games. It’s unclear how much money Chicago will be willing to give in an extension offer to Williams. Last night, Williams went 2-for-7 from the field, which resulted in 7 points in the Bulls’ first preseason game against the New Orleans Pelicans.
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