{"id":111588,"date":"2025-10-17T06:52:05","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T06:52:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=111588"},"modified":"2025-10-17T06:55:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T06:55:22","slug":"bulls-126-wolves-120-buzelis-caps-preseason-with-another-impressive-scoring-display","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=111588","title":{"rendered":"WINDY CITY STIR: something about tonight felt off \u2014 Buzelis didn\u2019t just score, he shifted the energy \u2014 and now everyone\u2019s wondering what Chicago just unleashed..ll"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.allcitynetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/10\/16205610\/Bulls_GameRecap-1.jpg.webp\" alt=\"Bulls GameRecap 1\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The preseason comes to a close with the\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/allchgo.com\/tag\/Chicago-Bulls\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Chicago Bulls\u2019<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0126-120 win against the Minnesota Timberwolves.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/allchgo.com\/tag\/Matas-Buzelis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Matas Buzelis<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0got off to a slow start, missing his first few shots, but quickly recovered with a transition dunk that helped him course correct. He finished with 19 points and yet again, scored efficiently, this time on 61.5 percent from the field and 40 percent on threes.<\/p>\n<p>Buzelis\u2019s scoring totals from the preseason:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>10\/7 @ Cleveland: 19 points, 63.6 field goal percentage<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>10\/9 vs. Cleveland: 11 points, 42.9 field goal percentage<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>10\/12 vs. Milwaukee: 19 points, 54.5 field goal percentage<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>10\/14 @ Denver: 20 points, 58.3 field goal percentage<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>10\/16 vs. Minnesota: 19 points, 61.5 field goal percentage<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>No doubt, an encouraging sign for the hopes of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/allchgo.com\/bulls\/\">Bulls\u2019<\/a>\u00a0future.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/allchgo.com\/tag\/Josh-Giddey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Josh Giddey<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0was effective as a driver, getting into the lane and initiating contact to help him get to the free-throw line for six attempts. He finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and nine assists. He still relies heavily on the floater that he tried to smooth out of his game last season, but the improved production in the paint continues to generate good offense for the team.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"injury-report\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Injury report<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Tre Jones (foot), Kevin Huerter (groin) and Julian Phillips (knee) all returned to the lineup.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Isaac Okoro (knee) was out. He experienced some discomfort in his knee during the first half of Tuesday\u2019s game against the Denver Nuggets. Donovan held him out of the second half of that game, as well as the preseason finale.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Patrick Williams (left hamstring) and Ayo Dosunmu (left thumb) were also out against the Wolves. Both injuries were designated as \u2018precautionary\u2019 by the team.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Watch the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/youtube.com\/live\/Gpmqq8hNwCk?feature=share\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">CHGO Bulls postgame show live<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Josh Giddey &amp; Matas Buzelis Chemistry Growing as Bulls Beat Wolves | CHGO Bulls Podcast\" width=\"790\" height=\"444\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Gpmqq8hNwCk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Over the last few preseason games, Bulls coach Billy Donovan has explained the value of having multiple guards on the floor. With physicality and full-court defense coming into vogue, the Bulls need to have outlets that allow them to get into their offense quickly, even if Giddey is picked up before the timeline.<\/p>\n<p>With so many injuries, Donovan now pivoted to two guards\u00a0<em>and<\/em>\u00a0two bigs, with Jalen Smith starting next to Nikola Vucevic. Part of this was due to Okoro missing the game, but part was due to having to match up against Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert.<\/p>\n<p>The Bulls will be flexible with rotations, including the starting five, even when healthy.\u00a0<em>\u2014\u00a0Will Gottlieb<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Five\u00a0down\u202683 (maybe 84) to go! Yes, that\u2019s a Play In Tournament joke. Get used to \u2018em. Just like we\u2019re all used to the PIT and the Bulls\u2019 inevitable place in it.<\/p>\n<p>Coming into this season, I felt like Buzelis turning into a bona fide NBA star \u2013 and soon \u2013 was this team\u2019s only possible hope at becoming a relevant and actually competitive team again. Buzelis didn\u2019t necessarily show us anything new tonight against the T\u2019Wolves \u2013JK, I WROTE THIS BEFORE THAT CROSSOVER MOVE DOWN THE LANE THAT HE FINISHED OFF GLASS IN THE 4TH Q OMG \u2013 but he did show us that lethal combo of speed and verticality we\u2019ve seen for a while now. Some of those displays ended in ferocious dunks.<\/p>\n<p>After five preseason games, I feel exactly the same way. This team will struggle on defense every night, and will have less talent on paper than their opponents more nights than not. But\u2026Buzelis. Buzelis is the hope.<\/p>\n<p>Final side note from tonight and preseason as a whole \u2014 looot of guys on the injury report, headlined by Coby White. We saw how much the Bulls\u2019 half-court offense struggled in these exhibition games without White. If he has to miss real time\u2026eek. Hoping that he and his half-dozen teammates who missed preseason games with injuries are close to 100% healthy when the real games start.\u00a0<em>\u2014 Matt Peck<\/em><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p>Preseason is done!!!!! Cannot wait till the start of the regular season next week.<\/p>\n<p>Bulls first-quarter preseason starts have been as\u00a0 predictable as the sunrise and sunset:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sunrise<\/strong>: Starters get off to a slow start<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sunset<\/strong>: Bulls bench comes in and rights the ship<\/p>\n<p>Jones will be impossible to get off the floor. He is so steady. He handles the bawl well, sets up the half-court offense and is great at getting steals on the defensive end of the floor. Expect to see him out there A LOT this season. He\u2019s earned it.<\/p>\n<p>I had a mini freak-out seeing Dosunmu with a brace on his left hand. Good to hear it\u2019s precautionary (<em>honestly<\/em>,<em>\u00a0I\u2019m still a little queasy about it<\/em>).<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know how often we\u2019ll see the big man lineup during the season, but it was okay. Not good, not great, but okay. Good to see Smith getting time.<\/p>\n<p>Huerter will be the starter opening night for the Bulls. Book it (<em>Peace to Joe Cowley<\/em>).\u00a0<em>\u2014\u00a0Big Dave<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The preseason comes to a close with the\u00a0Chicago Bulls\u2019\u00a0126-120 win against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Matas Buzelis\u00a0got off to a slow start, missing his first few shots, but&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":111604,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>WINDY CITY STIR: something about tonight felt off \u2014 Buzelis didn\u2019t just score, he shifted the energy \u2014 and now everyone\u2019s wondering what Chicago just unleashed..ll - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=111588\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WINDY CITY STIR: something about tonight felt off \u2014 Buzelis didn\u2019t just score, he shifted the energy \u2014 and now everyone\u2019s wondering what Chicago just unleashed..ll - News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The preseason comes to a close with the\u00a0Chicago Bulls\u2019\u00a0126-120 win against the Minnesota Timberwolves. 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