Chicago Bulls come from behind, eke out preseason victory over New Orleans Pelicans

The Chicago Bulls opened their preseason schedule against the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. Could the Bulls start the (pre)season 1-0?

Basketball is finally here, Chicago Bulls fans.

And that might be a bad thing, but it’s basketball, so it can’t be too bad of a thing.

While rookie and (hopeful) future of the Bulls franchise Lauri Markkanen would not play due to back spasms, the rest of the team did suit up.

Here’s what transpired on Tuesday night down on the Bayou between the Bulls and Pelicans.

First quarter

Defense was entirely optional for the Bulls in the first quarter. The Pelicans finished the quarter with 46, I repeat, 46 points.

That is some Golden State Warriors, god level-offense right there, I don’t care that it’s preseason.

New Orleans finished the quarter with 17 free throws and outscored Chicago 16-4 in the paint, largely because Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins are freaks of nature and no one on the Bulls (with all respect to Robin Lopez) can hold their jock on defense.

Davis and Cousins both finished the quarter with 12 points on a steady dose of overpowering drives to the basket that resulted in fouls or free throws.

For their part, Chicago showed signs of life. 3-pointers were being thrown up at will and actually being made. Jerian Grant looked legitimately solid at the point guard spot and even pulled off a nice little Pablo Prigioni sequence, where he splashed a 3, stole the inbound pass and dished to Justin Holiday for a 3.

Score after one: Pelicans 46 – Bulls 33

Second quarter

The Bulls pulled closer in the second quarter, but that was more indicative of the Pels cooling down than good play. Chicago’s interior defense was still nonexistent.

Davis and Cousins continued to own Nikola Mirotic, Bobby Portis and Cristiano Felicio on the offensive end. Cousins attacked closeouts hard and finished around the rim.

Meanwhile, the free throw disparity grew larger than Summer did during her ill-advised attempt at making herself more, ahem, “appealing.” New Orleans finished the half 21-of-25 from the line, while Chicago was 6-for-6.

Instead of attacking, the Bulls continued to hoist and convert 3s, finishing the half shooting 10-for-23. Niko made three, but more disappointingly could not take advantage of former Alpha Rajon Rondo either time he matched up with him in the post.

Score after the first half: Pelicans 69 – Bulls 58

Third quarter

Chicago outscored New Orleans by 10 in the third quarter, holding the Pelicans to a measly 16 points. The Bulls even raced to a mini-lead, but couldn’t hold it for the remainder of the quarter, as New Orleans took a one-point lead into the fourth.

Chicago stepped up its defense, and RoLo even exacted some revenge for the whole team on Davis.

Also, the Bulls got really lucky. There were so many broken plays in this game that somehow turned into points for Chicago, which was evident to end the game.

Score after three: Pelicans 85 – Bulls 84

Fourth quarter

Chicago continued its lockdown defense in the fourth, albeit not having to deal with Davis. Cousins only played about three minutes. However, there were still some nice things going on for the Bulls.

Kris Dunn‘s defense is as good as advertised. He regularly hounded whoever he was guarding and read passing lanes well.

On top of that: Antonio Blakeney is really, really, fast, like Road Runner-fast. While I don’t trust his shot, Blakeney is a force in transition and will provide fans with some much needed entertainment until Zach LaVine returns.

And yes, Chicago pulled out the win in this game. Down the stretch as the benches cleared, the Bulls managed to top the Pelicans and start the season 1-0.

The Bulls closed out the win with the most laughable series of events that ended in a Jarell Eddie 3-pointer, which was the dagger.

Drive home safely, Chicago.

Next: Bulls come in at No. 28 in Lowe's LP rankings

Final score: Bulls 113 – Pelicans 109