Chicago Bulls vs. Boston Celtics: 5 Takeaways from the Season Opener

4. Reserves: No Portis, Valentine, Zipser + bad minutes for Canaan

Bobby Portis, Denzel Valentine and Paul Zipser all were fatalities of the dreaded “DNP – Coach’s Decision” on Thursday night against the C’s. Jerian Grant was the lone inactive for the Bulls.

In just seven minutes, Isaiah Canaan took three shots — all from long range — and missed all three.

Valentine has practiced since rolling his ankle in the preseason opener against the Milwaukee Bucks at the beginning of October, but failed to see action in the season opener. Portis is still a major work-in-progress for the Bulls, specifically in trying to get him where he needs to be on the defensive end. Zipser is a rookie behind a lot of depth up front of the Bulls, so his DNP isn’t that surprising in the opening game of the year.

Cristiano Felicio only logged eight minutes of action, but Michael Carter-Williams made a nice impact in 17 minutes on the floor. Carter-Williams missed four of his six shot attempts, but he grabbed six rebounds and dished out three assists.

His best sequence of the game was a good one for the Bulls in the fourth quarter that pushed the Bulls lead out to 93-81 with 7:52 left that forced Celtics head coach Brad Stevens to take a timeout.

Carter-Williams drained a triple, then stole the ball away, brought the ball down the floor, and would finish off the possession for the Bulls with a tough bucket in the painted area.

https://twitter.com/hungarianjordan/status/791828839601016832

Hoiberg also utilized Carter-Williams outside of being the lead guard for the Bulls, too. He started at point guard to start the fourth quarter, but also played off the ball with Rajon Rondo at times.