Yes, it was just the preseason opener and it came against the young and rebuilding Cleveland Cavaliers but boy, were the Chicago Bulls entertaining and fun to watch.
En route to a dominating 131-95 victory, the Bulls flexed their muscles and put on a dunk show at the United Center. First up, team's All-Star from last season - Zach LaVine.
Finishing as the game's top scorer with 25 points in 24 minutes on 9-of-14 shooting, the shooting guard threw down two monster jams - one a thunderous rim-rocker off a back-cut along the baseline while the other was a spectacular finish off the alley-oop lob pass from near halfcourt courtesy of Alex Caruso.
Zach looks to be in regular season form…@NBCSChicago | @ZachLaVine pic.twitter.com/UHYU8xS5BW
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) October 6, 2021
Caruso was impressive in his debut for the Bulls as he finished with 10 points and 10 assists in just 20 minutes of action.
While his alley-oop with LaVine would be the play of the game, he had some other incredible plays as well including this give-and-go in transition with DeMar DeRozan.
We can get used to this 👀@NBCSChicago | @DeMar_DeRozan pic.twitter.com/KUWbj1WsUI
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) October 6, 2021
After these spectacular throw-downs by their starting wings, the starting big men - Javonte Green and Nikola Vucevic - also got in on the action with few dunks of their own.
Vooch coming through!@NBCSChicago | @NikolaVucevic pic.twitter.com/t8l9LSVVBL
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) October 6, 2021
Javonte Green joins the dunk show!@NBCSChicago | @2Xtremebounce pic.twitter.com/xwgyzub5Xe
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) October 6, 2021
For the game, Chicago scored 26 points on the Cavaliers' 22 turnovers.
Overall, Bulls finished with seven players in double figures with starting point guard Lonzo Ball not among that group despite his all-round contribution of eight points, five rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks.
While dunking and finishing fastbreaks was the name of the game for the hosts, they showed a glimpse of their full potential very early on as Ball nailed a 3-pointer for the team's first preseason points and DeRozan, in typical DeRozan fashion, nailed a mid-ranger early.
Steal by @ZO2_…
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) October 6, 2021
Bucket by @DeMar_DeRozan!@NBCSChicago | #BullsNation pic.twitter.com/FaW25dezFe
Zo sinks our first bucket of the preseason!@NBCSChicago | @ZO2_ pic.twitter.com/CI7fzqSqI4
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) October 6, 2021
Again, it's just one game and that too, the preseason opener. So, it would be safe to not read too much into this game but one thing is for sure, when these Bulls are on song, it's can't miss basketball.
The views on this page do not necessarily represent the views of the NBA or its clubs.
