Spurs outlast Bulls 87-77 in Bulls first home game and Spurs first road game of the year (0-2;80)

 It wasn't always pretty, but the Spurs win.

The [Spurs] team shot just 40.9 percent from the field and was 1 of 12 on 3-point shooting, but had 52 rebounds and made plays off of Chicago's 20 turnovers. 

...and...

Aside from the five-time All-Star, the Spurs struggled to get anyone going on offense, at least in the first half. The team failed to hit a 3-pointer, sticking to paint work and mid-range shots. Much of this didn’t work, either. Chicago wasn’t playing great and the Spurs still got off shots, but nothing fell.

On the Bulls side, Lauri Markkanen looked impressive. He gave Pau Gasol fits throughout the night, using his fresher legs to get around the 37-year-old and find his way to the rim. It’s a problem for not just Saturday night but the rest of the season. Once the Spurs start facing teams that consistently roll out smaller, more athletic lineups, Gasol will struggle to find the court.

Markkanen made an impression.  

Season opener and practice fight: 117-100 Raptors’ victory over the depleted Chicago Bulls on Thursday. (0-1; 81)

Not much about the Bulls in the Toronto Star game article.  The Raptor's bench creamed the Bulls reserves.  With LaVine, Dunn, Portis and Mitoriç out, three of the Bulls 2nd unit squad started and they played the Raptors close (20-22).  Then the back of the bench played; and played poorly (2-20).

Valanciunas scores 23, Miles has 22 in Raptors win over Bulls - Sportsnet.ca

The 30-year-old Miles was acquired in the off-season to boost Toronto’s three-point shooting, but has found another role as the veteran voice of the Raptors’ young second unit. They provided the turning point Thursday night. Clutching a 22-20 lead late in the first quarter, Casey subbed out his entire starting lineup.

Miles orchestrated a 20-2 run by the young guns — Wright, Jakob Poeltl, Fred VanVleet and rookie OG Anunoby. And when they finally took a seat, to much applause from the starters, they’d given the Raptors a 20-point cushion.

"As a unit we need every single person on this roster to be ready," Miles said. "And for us to be able to go in there as a whole five and have success, for those guys, that’s big for them, early in the year and early in their careers to be able to gain confidence.

Positive are:

1. The fact the team lost by about 20; never collapsed. 
2. Hoiberg learned that line-up which lost 2-20 to the Raptor's bench should not be seen again. 
3. Bulls found a better backup PG in Felder who played aggressive.
4. Pondexter played for the 1st time in 2 years.

Toronto's take on the Bulls practice fight.  They're not as surprised or taken back by the altercation. hmmm...
Intramural fights nothing new in NBA | Toronto Star

“We had some doozies in Seattle, I’ll tell you that,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey recalled. “We had some fisticuffs. One that started on the court and went in the weight room and went outside, came back in. It was a long one. I’ve seen those.”

Casey wouldn’t name the participants in that specific brouhaha — he was an assistant coach on a team that employed the volatile Gary Payton so take that as you will — because teams like to keep those sorts of things in-house.

“I’ve seen a few, you keep that in house,” Toronto guard Kyle Lowry said.

108-95 Bulls lose at home.

Bulls lose to the Pelicans. The game was a reminder of how many FTs opponents shoot. It's been lopsided and tonight FTs were a reason the Bulls lost by such a large margin. Also, with Rondo out, Holiday was a major factor in the Pelican's improved defense.

The Bulls could not stop the NO twin towers and fouls gave Davis 22 straight points at the FT line.

Anthony Davis scores 37 in Pelicans' preseason win over the Bulls | NOLA.com

The Pelicans offense struggled to start Sunday night, turning the ball over eight times in the first quarter. But Davis and Cousins took over on the offensive end and helped New Orleans take a seven-point lead going into halftime. Davis was living at the free-throw line for most of the night and he made 22 consecutive free throws in the first three quarters.

Davis and Cousins were dominant, but the Pelicans only shot 42 percent from the field as a team. The Pelicans held Chicago to 38.1 percent shooting from the field, including only 26.8 percent from the 3-point line. .

..The Pelicans turned the ball over 21 times, allowing the Bulls to score 28 points off those mistakes...

The Bulls made 16 3-pointers in their victory over the Pelicans on Tuesday, but many of those 3-pointers came off of drive-and-kick opportunities. The Pelicans worked to eliminate driving lanes for the Chicago guards and did a better job forcing them to make plays from the perimeter.

IMHO FTs were a BFD.  Davis made 22 consecutive FTs and 22/23.   Valentine has a great 3pt shot (so far) but it will not go in every game.  If the shot wasn't falling, Jordan and Pippen would drive to the basket, draw fouls and kick start their game.

A cold shooting Bulls team needs to find someway to get players to make some easy baskets and one way is shooting a FT. 

Bulls 114, Bucks101 "We in the past have had trouble with is playing teams that might not have an all-star,"

Chicago wins but lost Kris Dunn to an open dislocation.

Milwaukee's newspaper sez:

Bulls 114, Bucks 101: Giannis Antetokounmpo makes emphatic return in loss

Antetokounmpo turned that excitement into a performance in which he appeared to be in midseason form as he scored 24 points, grabbed four rebounds and dished two assists in nearly 23 minutes.

Outside of Antetokounmpo's noteworthy debut, the main takeaway from the Bucks' effort was their issues on the defensive end. The Bulls found consistent open looks, especially from long range, and made the Bucks pay. Chicago lived behind the three-point line, going 17 of 34 from long range, with Holiday scoring 21 points on 5-of-7 shooting from distance and Denzel Valentine adding 15 points all on three-pointers (5 of 6).

Kidd said. "We can’t play to the level of our competition in the sense that we’re waiting and thinking we’re just going to turn it on. Tonight they got a lot of great open threes and we just didn’t come out and respect them.” 

To put Kidd's "all-star" remark in perspective, his Bucks finished '16-'17 with a 42-40 record.

What started with a bang, ended with a whimper. Bulls win 113-109

From the Pelican's perspective it was a game they lost, possibly due to fatigue.

New Orleans Pelicans run out of gas against the Chicago Bulls, fall 113-109 - The Bird Writes

Despite the narrow final score, the New Orleans Pelicans opening preseason game against the Chicago Bulls was a tale of extremes.

After the first twelve minutes of play, the Pelicans had totaled more points (46) than in any quarter of any regular season game last season. But just as easily as the offense was flowing, that well dried up quickly after halftime. An early second quarter 17-point lead morphed into a 1-point deficit near the middle of the third quarter.

After combining for 11-17 field goals in the first half, the [Pelican's] superstar duo made just 1-9 in the second.

Despite forcing 14 turnovers, the Pelicans managed to turn them into three meager points. And on this unusual night, New Orleans totaled two paltry fast break points.

[P]erhaps a significant reason the second half was such a grind for the Pelicans starters was the toll of heavy minutes. Everyone but Dante Cunningham surpassed 30 minutes

Cousins ... doesn’t believe he’s ever played this many minutes in a preseason game before in his career — yet he understood the reasoning.

“Defensively, our transition defense wasn’t very good,” said Alvin Gentry. “

[T]he Bulls repeatedly enjoyed great looks and made the Pelicans pay dearly from the three-point line, making 16 of their 35 shot attempts.

Eight different Bulls players reached double digits in scoring, with reserve Cristiano Felicio leading the way with 15 points.

It's hard to generalize off one game. Clearly Hoiberg's frequent substitutions gassed the Pelican's starters. Surprises include the Bulls 3rd Q turn around and hanging on to win a close game.

Yes it's preseason but this Bulls team is heavily scrutinized and Hoiberg in particular.  I thought he did very well in game one.  Coach played most of the roster and gave minutes to productive players.  At the game's end he kept in the quick Antonio Blakeney and used defensive athlete David Nwaba and PG Ryan Arcidiacono.  I feel both Grant and Dunn still get nerves under pressure.  Ryan is less physically gifted, but knows his limitations and seems more confident and "clutch".  Late addition Jarell Eddie hitting a last minute shot to put the game away was unexpected.  I thought he force this role on Valentine.  Instead Hoiberg doled out minutes and got the win.

Sustainable

John Paxson via The Chicago Suntimes Justin Holiday and his Bulls teammates are 'here to win games' | Chicago Sun-Times

‘‘I’ll say this: I’ve never met a coach or a player that steps foot on the floor to lose a game,’’ Paxson said. ‘‘They don’t, and they shouldn’t. Yes, we are rebuilding. We understand and acknowledge that there are going to be some tough times.

‘‘This culture and environment of working hard, putting the time in, that’s what is sustainable. We’re not here to create a culture of losing. We’re here to build a culture of things that are sustainable.’’

It's happy time now and talk is cheap. Players are dedicated to the team and getting better.
Well it's Oct.

This team will lose and in streaks. They will lose blow outs and close games. If they are following Paxon's guidelines it will hurt and we will judge.

• We will scrutinize Hoiberg's in game adjustments (or lack of) late minute substitutions and play calling. 
• Dunn, Markkanen and LaVine's progress will be valued against the all-star production traded to bring them here.  
• As first round picks Portis, Mototiç and Valentine have opportunity costs, comparable to successful players taken behind them. Each have to define a significant role within this team while the team racks up losses.

There will be questions:

• How committed are players to rebuilding within Hoiberg's system come mid-January ?
• What's the effect of limited minutes doled by differing perceptions of performance and effort in a blow-out loss ?  
• When there is trouble, will the franchise channel Sean Spicer with a happy-happy-joy-joy press conference? (I suspect Paxson's already shutdown Gar's public performances).

Sustainable is measurable in how the team performs and reacts to losing. The coaches have to yank players, players have to accept responsibility when demoted and the team had better lose games within a competitive margin and play hard when getting blown out.