A poor start to the preseason slate for the Chicago Bulls saw them fall short by a large 21-point margin at home on Dec. 11 to the Houston Rockets.
While we shouldn’t put a whole lot of stock in the result, the Chicago Bulls and newly hired head coach Billy Donovan did not get off to the start they wanted to on Dec. 11 in their preseason opener against the Houston Rockets. A largely new look Rockets team that was without superstar guard James Harden jumped all over the Bulls right from tip off.
It was the former Washington Wizards star point guard John Wall and former Sacramento Kings superstar big man DeMarcus Cousins that largely powered the Rockets to this win over the Bulls, by the final score of 125-104.
This was the first game that the Bulls played at the United Center since mid-March, when they beat the Cleveland Cavaliers to round out the regular season in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic. The Bulls will be back at the United Center to face the Rockets for a second time in this four-game preseason slate on Dec. 13.
Then the Bulls will hit the road to travel to face the Oklahoma City Thunder to round out this preseason slate for two games, on Dec. 17 and 19. And the Bulls tip off their regular season slate on Dec. 23 at home at the United Center against star point guard Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks.
Moreover, the Bulls 21-point preseason opener loss at home to the Rockets was not really what the fans wanted to see heading into the weekend. But this is still the preseason and hopefully the Bulls can bounce back strong in their second game against the Rockets to round out the weekend.
Here’s a deeper look into three takeaways from the Bulls convincing loss to the Rockets to tip off the preseason schedule on Dec. 11.
3) Takeaways from Chicago Bulls loss to Rockets
Lauri Markkanen played really well, expect for turnovers
The stat line that the fourth-year former Arizona Wildcats seven-footer and the 23-year-old power forward Lauri Markkanen looked pretty good in the Bulls preseason opener loss to the Rockets on Dec. 11. The four turnovers that Markkanen posted in this loss were a game-high. Although almost all of the Bulls starting five had a large number of turnovers.
Markkanen also registered 13 points, five rebounds, one assist, two steals, and one block. And he shot an efficient 5-of-8 from the field and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. The two main problems for Markkanen in this game were his overall plus/minus on the floor (a -27 in this game) and taking care of the basketball against a defense that wasn’t too good last season.
But some part of the number of turnovers that Markkanen posted should be expected in such a long hiatus. At least he’s making these mistakes in the preseason and not in the playoffs.
A Bulls big man that had a bit more of a completely problematic stat line in this preseason game was the third-year center Wendell Carter Jr. WCJ got off to a really slow start this preseason, registering just four points, seven rebounds, two assists, three turnovers, no steals, and no blocks. And he shot a poor 1-of-7 from the field, 0-of-5 from beyond the arc, and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line.
The fit for Markkanen in the new scheme under Donovan looks to be a bit more natural out of the gates than WCJ. But I’ll keep harping on the fact that Bulls fans shouldn’t overreact too much to a good or bad performance in a preseason opener after such a long hiatus from a key big man in this young core.
2) Takeaways from Chicago Bulls loss to Rockets
John Wall looked rejuvenated in his Rockets preseason debut
In his first game played, either in the preseason or the regular season, in roughly two years actually was pretty successful for Wall. The 30-year-old 6-foot-4 and 210 pound Raleigh, NC, native and former Kentucky Wildcats floor general Wall had questions surrounding his status after he spent the better part of the last 18 months trying to rehab in practice from a torn achilles.
In one of the more stunning trades of the offseason around the NBA landscape, it was hard to tell how Wall would do with the Rockets. The Wizards traded Wall to the Rocekts in exchange namely for veteran star point guard Russell Westbrook. That came just one year after former Rockets general manager Daryl Morey traded the Thunder to get Russ for Chris Paul.
Moreover, in this game, Wall registered 13 points, nine assists, five rebounds, two steals, and two turnovers. He was really efficient in his first game back in a long time. Wall also shot 6-of-10 from the field and 1-of-3 from beyond the arc.
It still will take Wall a while to get back fully into game speed. But that’s why the Rockets preseason slate will be so important for him to try to return as close to his previous form as he can. He and Cousins were both solid in their first games back in a good while heading into this weekend.
Watching how WCJ and point guard Coby White matchup with the likes of Cousins and Wall in the second game of these two Bulls home games with the Rockets will be critical come Dec. 13.
1) Takeaways from Chicago Bulls loss to Rockets
Efficiency from unexpected sources
Good signs from a few of the players in this Bulls young core showed up in this 21-point loss to the Rockets. White did show some flashes, although it looks like he still has a lot to work on. The second-year former North Carolina Tar Heels point guard registered 15 points, one rebound, six assists, no steals, and two turnovers. And he shot 5-of-11 from the field, 2-of-4 from beyond the arc, and 3-of-3 from the free-throw line.
The solid shooting percentages from White are definitely a good sign of what could be to come from him as he tries to capitalize from the momentum of how he ended his rookie season.
Moreover, a few other solid sources of production for the Bulls in this loss to the Rocket came from the rookie former Florida State forward Patrick Williams and veteran big man Noah Vonleh. The Bulls fourth overall pick from the 2020 NBA Draft Williams had a nice preseason debut, registering 12 points in 25 minutes played coming off the bench, along with three rebounds, and a spotty trio of turnovers.
Since he is riding out a non-guaranteed contract at least until opening night of the regular season, Vonleh is playing a critical stretch of games during this Bulls preseason slate. In this game, he registered 12 points in just 11 minutes played coming off the bench. He did that along with eight rebounds, no assists, no steals, and one block.
Even the lengthy 6-foot-7 and 210 pound combo guard Tomas Satoransky had a nice showing in this preseason opener. He registered 11 points in 26 minutes played coming off the bench, along with seven rebounds, six assists, and no turnovers.