CHICAGO (670 The Score) – A preseason that went as well as it could've for the Bulls ended in style Friday evening.
Chicago earned a 118-105 win against Memphis at the United Center to wrap up a 4-0 mark in exhibition play. Forward Patrick Williams fit in well to the starting lineup and felt good in returning from a severe ankle sprain, showing that he's healthy – though in need of a little more conditioning – as the regular-season opener looms at Detroit next Wednesday. Star guard Zach LaVine scored 31 points, again displaying his superb efficiency but this time doing so with less of a stress load as others help create on the offensive end, which was one of his biggest takeaways in the early going with a new-look group.
"We're an extremely explosive offensive team, that when we lock in on the defensive end, we can be extremely scary," said LaVine, who shot 51.7% from the field and 52.4% on 3-pointers in the preseason. "We got a bunch of guys out here playing for each other, trying to figure each other out, that are extremely unselfish and will do anything to win, will sacrifice and try to figure it out with this process."
Bulls newcomer DeMar DeRozan (19 points) maintained that an unbeaten record doesn't mean anything in the preseason, but the manner in which the revamped team has operated is a promising indicator. The Bulls posted a 111.1 offensive rating in the four exhibition games, the third-best mark in the NBA through Friday night. Their 91.3 defensive rating was tied for first in the league.
Both were good signs, though it should be noted the Bulls' first three preseason games came against poor competition (the Cavaliers twice, the Zion Williamson-less Pelicans once). That's what made Friday more telling in coach Billy Donovan's mind, as the Grizzlies posed a tougher test and were close to full strength.
The Bulls promptly greeted the visitors rudely, scoring on their first five possessions and opening up an early 16-6 lead. The Grizzlies responded by dominating in the paint for the rest of the first quarter and converting easy looks, but the Bulls steadied themselves for the rest of the game and took control late.
Donovan liked what he saw in flashes while believing his team's ceiling is much higher because it's not yet consistent.
"We have moments where we play really, really good basketball on both ends of the floor," Donovan said. "I think I talked about the consistency part. I thought offensively for us tonight, I just think we have way too many possessions where we are not flowing, as organized, in sync with one another. I think as I mentioned many times, that was part of the reason we needed to play so much. DeMar and (Nikola Vucevic), Zach, Lonzo (Ball), those guys are very, very gifted offensive players and I think when you put a group like that together they have to learn to play with each other. And I think that will take a little bit of time. But we are going to have to flow a little bit better. I think there are times we do it and it looks really, really good, but it's too sporadic. And I think sometimes when we don't have great offensive possessions, (it) really bleeds into our defense a little bit. But listen, we competed, we hung in there, we battled."
Asked what he learned about the Bulls in the preseason, DeRozan responded, "Not too much – I mean that in the most positive way." He then cited his teammates' effort and unselfishness as traits he expected to shine before shedding light on the team's progress on the chemistry front.
"It's pretty good," DeRozan said. "I mean, we've got a long way to go. First and foremost, every guy that steps out there on that court is very unselfish. They want the next person to be successful and help the best way we can. Offensively, we're trying to make our jobs easy. Sometimes we become overly unselfish moving the ball, passing the ball, but that's just a product of being a new team. We definitely are going to continue to get better with the more reps we have, the more practice, the more mistakes we make and look at film and are able to understand what we can be better at. I feel like we got a long season to continue to get better at it."
Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for 670TheScore.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.
