Chicago Bulls vs. Boston Celtics: 5 Takeaways from the Season Opener
3. Fred Hoiberg’s experimenting paid off on Thursday night
Looks like Hoiberg learning the stagger game. Pulls Wade, leaves Butler/Rondo in. Pulls Rondo/Butler, puts Wade back in late in the 1Q.
— Michael Whitlow (@couldbelikemike) October 28, 2016
With 4:50 left in the first quarter, Doug McDermott won the sweepstakes as the first Bull off the bench this season. McDermott, who scored a quiet five points in 22 minutes on Thursday, entered the game for Dwyane Wade.
Wade would later come return to spell Rajon Rondo with 2:07 left in the first quarter. 13 seconds later, Isaiah Canaan would check in for Jimmy Butler, who played a team-high 37 minutes, with 1:54 left in the quarter.
What’s the trend here? Rondo (33 minutes), Wade (32 minutes) and Butler (37 minutes) were never on the bench all together on Thursday night.
Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg did a great job of not only keeping Wade in his 30-32 minute range that he mentioned before tip-off on Thursday, he made sure his core guys were all in the action, whether it was just one, two or all three “Alphas” on the floor.
Hoiberg started his second season off right and not only played the right matchups (Mirotic-Gibson as the main 4 and 5 in the “closing lineup” down the stretch), he kept his stars on the floor all night, but with a better sense of balance.