The Bucks take on the new look Bulls, as Milwaukee seeks a 2-0 start
The I-94 rivalry gets another chapter to write, as the Milwaukee Bucks will host the Chicago Bulls for the Bucks’ home opener. The Bucks come in after blowing out the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday, while the Bulls lost in their season opener to the New Orleans Pelicans in the Big Easy.
Where We’re At
Wednesday was about as good an opener as possible for the Milwaukee Bucks. They handled a short-handed Philadelphia squad down Joel Embiid and Paul George, 124-109. Two of the newcomers, Gary Trent Jr. and Taurean Prince had impressive Bucks debuts, with Trent scoring 11 points and playing excellent defense on Tyrese Maxey. Prince at one point was perfect from the field (6/6) and finished the night with 16 points on four made three-pointers, five rebounds, and three assists. Damian Lillard looked like the Dame we hope to see more often this season, scoring 30 points on the night, including 15 in the third quarter without missing a shot from deep. Giannis dominated in his usual fashion, especially going up against Andre Drummond, scoring 25 points, grabbing 14 rebounds, and dishing out seven assists.
The Bulls finally pulled some of the plugs on this current core of players, shipping out two of them during the off-season DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso. The Bulls didn’t get much from the DeRozan trade outside of some second round picks and Chris Duarte, but their hope lies in the piece they got from trading Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder: former lottery pick Josh Giddey. Outside of that, the roster is very similar to the one from a year ago, except for the return of Lonzo Ball after not playing since January 14, 2022. The Bulls held onto Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic despite rumors of trading one of the former All-Stars in the off-season. In the draft, Chicago took promising rookie Matas Buzelis with the 11th pick from the G-League Ignite.
It was an up-and-down opener for the Bulls against the Pelicans, as LaVine had 19 points in the first half in a tight contest. He would finish with 27 but had seven turnovers and as a team, Chicago had 21. The Pelicans took full advantage of those mistakes, as they scored 30 points off those turnovers. Ball did score five points in his return and Vucevic got his customary double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to topple New Orleans, as they lost 123-111.
Player To Watch
On Wednesday, Gary Trent Jr. was everything the Bucks could have hoped for when they signed him on the veteran minimum. He was tenacious and had active hands on the defensive end all night, while still providing strong floor spacing for the Bucks’ stars. A marked improvement (so far) over Malik Beasley, who shot fantastic from three but was often targeted on the defensive end. With his ability to get his hands on the basketball and the Bulls’ turnover issues (at least in game one) expect a big day for Trent on that end with potentially multiple steals.
Injury Report
After returning to the regular season for the first time in over two years, the Bulls’ Lonzo Ball will sit this one out. Chicago is holding him out of back-to-backs this year so he can play Saturday against the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Bulls home opener. Former first-round pick Dalen Terry will be available, as he nurses tendonitis on his left patella tendon.
For the Bucks, Khris Middleton is out once again as he rehabs from the ankle surgeries he had in the off-season. There is still no timetable for him to make his season debut. Giannis and Lopez are both probable as the two are listed with right patella tendinitis and a right quad contusion, respectively.
How To Watch
Fan Duel Sports Network Wisconsin at 7:00 PM CDT.
Playback Streaming
We have our first guest of the season on our Playback channel: Brian Sampson of Forbes and @BucksFilmRoom! Join us when the stream goes live at 6:45 PM CDT.
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