The Chicago Bulls finally notched their first win of the 2016-17 preseason with a 121-105 victory over the Indiana Pacers. Even though it’s the preseason, there were many takeaways from the game, especially with a lot of the younger players getting more playing time than usual.
If you saw the game, then the first thing you may have noticed was that Spencer Dinwiddie, after a strong performance in Friday’s game, was the starting point guard for Chicago. This just goes to show how competitive playing time will be at point guard this year. Dinwiddie will be battling with Isaiah Cannan and Jerian Grant for minutes behind Rajon Rondo.
Although Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade each played 27 minutes tonight (more than usual for a preseason game), everyone on the roster excluding Denzel Valentine and Rondo got to play. Obviously once the season starts this won’t be the case each game, but it’s nice to see guys like Paul Zipser get playing time. During the regular season it’s tough for players at the end of the bench to see much time barring any injuries, as seen with Cristiano Felicio last year, who didn’t play until February (now look at where he is).
Anyways, let’s get to it! Here are the four biggest takeaways from Saturday’s game. If you want to see our immediate post-game analysis and highlights, click here.